The Swedish Coast Guard reported this Thursday of a fourth fugue in the gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2 damaged this week.
“It has been found another gas leak in the Baltic. Two of these fourth leaks are in the exclusive economic zone of Sweden and the other two in Denmark,” a spokesman confirmed to the newspaper. Svenska Dagbladet.
With this new leak, there are already two four leaks in the gas pipelines, two in each of them. The Swedish Police intelligence unit (SÄPO) has taken over the investigation of the gas leaks and the possibility that “a foreign power is behind” of the alleged sabotage.
[Monedero acusa a EEUU del sabotaje del Nord Stream: “Viva la OTAN. Arruinarán a Europa”]
suspicions of a possible sabotage by Russia hover over these four fugues. The authorities of Sweden, Denmark and Germany, as well as the European Union, attribute these gases to sabotage whose origin is being investigated.
russian submarines
The EU suspects that Russian submarines are behind the sabotage and warns of a “strongest possible” response to any intentional interruption of its energy infrastructure.
Added to these suspicions is the Swedish National Seismic Networkwhich has detected two explosions in the area, prior to the leaks. Speaking to public television SVT, Björn Lunda professor at the Swedish National Seismic Network, explained that measurement stations located in southern Sweden recorded the explosionsthe first in the early hours of Sunday to Monday and the second already in the afternoon of Monday.
[Fugas de gas y riesgo de explosión: la rotura del Nord Stream puede provocar un desastre ecológico]
For its part, the operator of the Snord Stream, Nord Stream AG, confirmed on Tuesday that the damage suffered by the gas pipelines is “unprecedented”. Meanwhile, Germany assures that the corrosion of the ducts makes the Nord Strea, 1 and 2 unusable.
Gas leaks in the Baltic Sea.
Nord Stream 1, closed by Putin
The flow of North Stream 1with a capacity of 55,000 million cubic meters of gas per year, was closed by Russia last September 2 indefinitely.
[Alemania dice que el Nord Stream queda inutilizado para siempre: “La corrosión es irreversible”]
The pipeline was supposed would reopen on September 3 after repairs of an oil leak in its only operating turbine, however, it cannot be repaired by Gazprom, which controls the infrastructure, due to Western sanctions, a decision that for the European Union is a clear blackmail Europe with gas as a weapon.
In fact, this Gazprom decision came just a few hours after the finance ministers of the countries of the G7 (United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada and Japan) decided to impose a cap -that is, to put a limit price- on Russian oil exports. The objective of this measure is to prevent the Kremlin from taking large revenues as the price of a barrel of crude rises.
Nord Stream 2, full but never open
The Government of Germany confirmed this Tuesday the pressure drop in the Nord Stream 2a pipeline completed, not inaugurated and filled with gas, but through which this fuel has never been imported after Berlin suspended the approval process shortly before the Ukraine war and ruled out its implementation.
In fact, Germany’s decision to block the flow of gas through this pipeline was in response to Moscow’s recognition of the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, in eastern Ukraine, in February.
