This note was updated at 16:30 p.m.
The three large leaks identified since Monday (26) near the Danish island of Bornholm are visible from the surface and have generated bubbles measuring 200 meters and up to a kilometer in diameter, the Danish army announced in a statement, which includes impressive images.
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The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was the first to suffer damage on Monday (26). This Tuesday (27) faults were also recorded in the route of Nord Stream 1, which runs almost parallel to the Baltic Sea.
Denmark and Sweden confirmed that the two gas pipelines are leaking.
Objects of geopolitical tensions in recent months, the two gas pipelines operated by a consortium linked to the Russian group Gazprom are out of operation due to the war in Ukraine, but remain full of gas.
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Russia said it was “extremely concerned” about the leaks detected and added that it did not rule out “any hypothesis”, including sabotage, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov.
The leaks were detected on the Danish island of Bornholm: one, in Denmark's exclusive economic zone, and the other, in Sweden.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it was “difficult to imagine it being an accident”, adding that an act of sabotage could not be ruled out.
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Nord Stream, the consortium that operates the gas pipeline, highlighted that so far it is not possible to observe or assess the damage, but admitted the exceptional nature of the situation.
“It is not common for an incident in which three pipes experience difficulties on the same day,” a spokesperson for the group told AFP.
Alert state
Denmark put all of its energy infrastructure on alert and sent two vessels to the region, accompanied by helicopters. Sweden called an emergency meeting.
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“Gas pipeline leaks are extremely rare and therefore we see a reason to increase the level of vigilance following the incidents recorded in the last 24 hours,” Danish Energy Agency director Kristoffer Böttzauw said in a statement.
He promeyour “in-depth surveillance of Denmark’s critical infrastructure”.
The Scandinavian country raised the alert in the electricity and gas sector to the orange level, the second highest, and banned navigation within a radius of 5 nautical miles (9 kilometers) around the leaks, as well as flying over the radius of one kilometer.
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“Against a coincidence”
Built alongside its predecessor, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was supposed to double import capacity from Russia to Germany. Its imminent entry into operation was suspended, however, due to reprisals against Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine.
German authorities have not commented on the leaks so far, but, according to a source close to the government cited by the German newspaper Taggesspiegel, “everything is against coincidence”.
Two underwater explosions were recorded before leaks
Two underwater explosions “probably due to detonations” were recorded near the leak sites of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines shortly before their detection, a Swedish seismic institute reported this Tuesday (27).
A first “massive energy emission” with a magnitude of 1,9 was recorded overnight from Sunday to Monday at 02:03 am (21:03 pm on Sunday Brasília time) southeast of the Danish island of Bornholm and another with a magnitude of 2,3 at 19:04 pm (14:04 pm Brasília time) on Monday in the northeast of the island, Peter Schmidt, from the Swedish National Seismic Network, explained to AFP.
“We interpret it as coming with the highest probability of some form of detonation,” he said.
Leaks in Nord Stream pipelines are due to 'deliberate acts', according to Denmark
The leaks affecting the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which connect Russia and Europe through the Baltic Sea, are due to “deliberate acts” and not “an accident”, the Danish Prime Minister said on Tuesday (27). , Mette Frederiksen.
The Danish government estimates that leaks in the pipelines, which are not in operation due to the war in Ukraine but are full of gas, could last “at least a week” until the methane that is escaping from the pipelines ends, the minister said. of Energy and Environment in a press conference.
(With AFP)
