At least two explosions hit these Baltic Sea pipelines on Monday, causing spectacular gas leaks. The thesis of an accident is a priori excluded and many experts wonder about a possible involvement of Russia, which denies.
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This is an unprecedented event. The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which connect Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea and are intended to supply Europe with Russian gas, were victims, Monday, September 26, of at least two explosions under Marines. These resulted in three methane leaks off the Danish island of Bornholm, located between southern Sweden and Poland. Spectacular bubbles on the surface of the water, with a diameter ranging from 200 meters to 1 kilometer, were spotted by the Danish army, which broadcast aerial images of the sinister Tuesday.
“These are deliberate actions, it is not an accident,” said Danish Prime Minister, puts Frederiksen, at a press conference convened on Tuesday, adding that she was taking “very seriously”. ‘incident. Denmark has dispatched two military ships, the Absalon frigate and the environmental protection ship Gunnar Thorson, as well as several helicopters on the spot. Maritime traffic has also been prohibited in an area of five nautical miles (approximately 9 kilometers) around leaks, as well as the aerial overflight below 1,000 meters above sea level. Tuesday afternoon, Swedish police announced that they opened a preliminary investigation for “aggravated sabotage”.
According to the National Sismology Center of the Swedish University of Uppsala, two underwater explosions were detected on Monday by measuring devices, shortly before gas leaks appear on the surface. One of the detonations had a magnitude of 2.3 on the Richter scale and was recorded in no less than 30 measurement stations located in the south of Sweden. The depth of the sea at the level of leaks – two are located in the exclusive Danish economic zone, one in that of Sweden – is “70 to 90 meters”, according to the Danish energy minister Dan Jorgensen. The Norwegian seismic surveillance organization Norsar claims to have also recorded the two tremors.
The Kremlin is “extremely concerned”
No explanation was put forward Wednesday morning on the origin of these explosions, but the thesis of an accident is a priori excluded by the authorities. If the breaks of underwater telecommunications cables, torn off by an anchor or the trawl of a ship, are not exceptional, that of a gas pipeline, whose walls are made up of 12 centimeters of concrete and Steel, seems not very plausible, a fortiori if the incident takes place in different places on the same day. The importance of explosions – one of them was of a power equivalent to 100 tonnes of TNT, according to the statements made by seismologists – also leaves little doubt about the voluntary nature of detonations.
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