Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Underwater explosions were detected near Nord Stream leaks

  • An aerial picture of the gas leak in the Baltic Sea, taken from a F-16 fighter jet belonging to the Danish Armed Forces (Photo: Danish Defence)
Listen to article

Gas leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines connecting Russia to Germany are being investigated by a crisis team set up by Sweden and Denmark.

Although the cause of the leaks has not been officially confirmed, measuring stations connected to the Swedish National Seismic Network (SNSN) detected powerful underwater explosions.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • The Danish navy has placed three beacons over the Nord Stream 1 and 2 leaks to signal danger to passing vessels. (Photo: MarineTraffic)

"We do not know what the cause of the explosions is," Michael Roth, a seismologist at SNSN, told EUobserver on Tuesday (27 September). "But we think the events are explosions and not just a burst [pipe] or leak because of the high-frequency signals."

The first explosion was recorded at 02:03 on the night of Monday, and the second at 7:04 p.m. on Monday.

One of the explosions had a magnitude of 2.2 on the Richter scale and was registered at as many as 30 measuring stations in Sweden.

"Blasts and earthquakes can be distinguished by the type of seismic waves they emit. An earthquake of that magnitude would have lower frequencies than a blast," Roth said. "The signals related to the two events are clearly explosions."

"However, we can not deduce which source was used," he said.

The Danish Royal Navy announced on Tuesday it had sent the frigate Absalon and the environmental ship Gunnar Thorson to patrol the waters and prevent vessels from entering the exclusion zones near the leak.

In an aerial picture posted by the Danish air force taken from an F-16 fighter jet, gas could be seen swirling to the surface in an area measuring about 1km in diameter. The smaller circle where the other blast took place is approximately 200 metres wide.

"We can see that a lot of gas is being released. So it is not a small crack. It's a really big hole," director of the Danish Energy Agency Kristoffer Böttzauw told Danish daily Berlingske.

Danish authorities on Tuesday raised the level of preparedness for energy companies. This requires them to do physical safety checks of the generator grounds several times a day.

"A leak is extremely rare, and it naturally causes strong concern. That is why we have raised the level of preparedness in Denmark," Böttzauw said.

"It is hard to imagine that it is accidental. We cannot rule out sabotage, but it is too early to conclude," Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said while in Poland, where she attended the inauguration of the Baltic pipeline which will connect the Norwegian gas grid to Poland.

'Sabotage'

Her Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawieckiwas was less cautious. "Today we faced an act of sabotage, we don't know all the details of what happened, but we see clearly that it's an act of sabotage related to the next step of escalation of the situation in Ukraine," he said.

When asked when divers would be able to investigate the leaks up close, the Danish Energy Agency could not immediately respond.

Foul play suspicions in Nord Stream leaks

Sweden's maritime authority detected two leaks on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Tuesday, shortly after Danish authorities discovered a leak in Nord Stream 2.

Russia cuts Nord Stream 1 gas to 20% capacity

It comes a day after EU governments approved a watered-down plan to curb gas demand by 15 percent, aimed at lowering consumption, building storage, and sharing supplies if Russia in future cuts all exports.

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Investigation

How Western machinery is helping Russia kill Ukrainians

Russia's missile production capacities have been supercharged thanks to Western machinery. Despite European sanctions having been in place since 2014, many European companies have turned a blind eye to exports of valuable technology to Russian military factories.

Latest News

  1. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  2. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  3. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  4. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  5. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  6. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  7. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating
  8. Syrian mayor in Germany speaks out against AfD

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us