Fourth gas leak discovered near Nord Stream pipelines, reports Swedish Coast Guard
In total, two of the four leaks have been located in the Swedish exclusive economic zone. Intensive work is underway on several levels to find out exactly what happened, impacted governments report, with the Swedish government stating that Coast Guard vessels are close to the leak and conducting ongoing investigations.
Read also: Siemens Energy says engine oil leak no reason for Nord Stream 1 shutdown
The first report of an incident involving the Russia-Europe Nord Stream pipelines occurred on Sept. 26, when the pressure suddenly dropped in the Nord Stream-2 pipeline. On Sept. 27, reports emerged of a similar issue with Nord Stream-1. Both gas pipelines, passing along the bottom of the Baltic Sea off the coast of Sweden and Denmark, were not operational – but were still filled with technical gas for pressurization.
The pressure drop was recorded at a section of the pipeline located at a depth of about 70 meters near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea - just outside the territorial waters of Denmark, but in its exclusive economic zone.
Read also: Nearly simultaneous leaks in Nord Stream undersea gas pipelines ‘could be sabotage’
Following the pressure drops, three large gas leaks were discovered, as well as evidence of underwater explosions along the pipeline routes. Bjorn Lund, professor at the Swedish National Seismic Center SNSN, said that these explosions were obviously artificial, and not geological in nature.
Denmark and Sweden have already declared the explosions to have been "deliberate actions”, and the EU as a whole has stated that it is clear that these explosions were due to sabotage.
The Nord Stream operating company, Nord Stream AG, said that it isn’t yet possible to estimate the timing of the restoration of the gas transmission infrastructure.
Read also: Europe can win Putin’s gas war but must learn Nord Stream lessons
German security services assume that both lines of the Nord Stream-1 pipeline, and one line of the Nord Stream-2 pipeline, will forever be unusable after these explosions, writes German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel.
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
