Another day, another Nord Stream controversy.
Gas from three separate breakages in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines is leaking into the Baltic Sea, stoking fears that they may have been deliberated sabotaged.
The leaks – two north of the island of Bornholm, and one in Swedish waters south of the island – were found by Danish authorities, after Nord Steam AG, the operator, reported an overnight pressure drop in Nord Stream 2 on Monday morning, and another pressure drop in Nord Stream 1 on Monday afternoon.
A five-mile exclusion zone has been imposed around Bornholm, preventing ships from passing nearby, while flights below 1,000 metres over the area have been banned. According to the Danish armed forces, the evidence of the gas leak on the surface of the water measures an entire kilometre in diameter.
On Monday, Sweden’s National Seismology Centre at Uppsala University registered powerful subsea explosions in the areas where the gas leaks have been discovered.
Seismologist Bjord Lund told Swedish broadcaster SVT: “There is no doubt that these were explosions.”
“There are three leaks, and therefore it is difficult to imagine that it could be accidental,” the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederikson said, while German officials said that Russia’s involvement could “not be excluded.”
According to the Norwegian petroleum safety authority, a number of oil and gas companies have recently reported unidentified drones flying near their offshore facilities, urging for more vigilance.
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