Baltic pipeline leaks Blasts precede, sabotage seen likely

by Sara Floyd Hello

Under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany Denmark believes “deliberate actions” caused big leaks in two natural gas pipelines running, and seismologists said powerful explosions preceded the leaks.

With Russia provoked by the war in Ukraine European leaders and experts pointed to possible sabotage amid the energy standoff. Neither pipeline is currently supplying it to Europe, although filled with gas.

On Tuesday Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said “It is the authorities’ clear assessment that these are deliberate actions not accidents”.

In Denmark she added “There is no information indicating who could be behind it” by saying that the leaks occurred in international waters Frederiksen rejected the suggestion that the incident was an attack.

To bolster the continent’s energy independence from Moscow the incident overshadowed the inauguration of a long-awaited pipeline that will bring Norwegian gas to Poland.

Lund said “There’s no doubt, this is not an earthquake”. To discuss the leaks with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg Danish defense minister Morten Bodskov will travel to Brussels on Wednesday.

In this case “we will inform and reach out to Russia” and Jeppe Kofod, Denmark’s Foreign Minister said Sweden, Germany and Poland have been kept informed.

Against Denmark after the three leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines he said Denmark’s foreign intelligence service didn’t see any increased military threat.

Images released by Denmark’s military show they created a foamy white area on the water’s surface. Dan Jorgensen, Danish Energy Minister said that “we cannot say how long the leak will go” as the gas has not been turned off. When the gas would be turned off there was no indication.

To assess the damage it’s preparing a survey, Nord Stream AG, The German operator of the pipelines, said.

“For restoring the gas transport infrastructure currently it is not possible to estimate a timeframe”, a company statement said. “The causes of the incident will be clarified as a result of the investigation.”

“It is probably a case of sabotage,” but not an attack on Sweden, In Sweden, acting Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said.

With it Andersson in connection added that neighbouring oil-rich Norway “in the North Sea and the measures they have taken has informed us about increased drone activity ”.

Ann Linde, Foreign Minister said that Sweden “We will not speculate about motive or actor and are not ruling out any scenarios.”

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“In the gas sphere is coming to an end, the era of Russian domination”. “An era that was marked by blackmail, threats and extortion”, Morawiecki declared.

Some feared Moscow sabotaged its own infrastructure out of spite or to warn that pipelines are vulnerable to attack; no official presented evidence of what caused the leaks, but with distrust of Russia running high. On whether energy infrastructure was being targeted and in natural gas prices led to a small bump the leaks raised the stakes.

“We are dealing with in Ukraine, this is an act of sabotage we can clearly see an act that probably means a next step of escalation in the situation,” Morawiecki said.

To promote European energy security according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price, who reiterated the U.S. was committed, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod about the apparent sabotage.

The timing of the leaks was “conspicuous” given the ceremony for the Baltic Pipe at the Royal Danish Defense College, a researcher with the Center for Maritime Operations, Anders Puck Nielsen, said. “To send a signal that something could happen to the Norwegian gas” he said perhaps someone sought.

Analysts Henning Gloystein and Jason Bush wrote “Depending on the scale of the damage, the leaks could even mean a permanent closure of both lines”.

This is not difficult, Puck Nielsen said of possible sabotage that “technically speaking. Just it requires a boat. To know how to handle explosive devices it requires some divers.”

“I think there’s basically only one actor right now that actually benefits from more uncertainty, and that is Russia, but I think if we look at who would actually benefit from disturbances, more chaos on the gas market in Europe” he said.

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman said “if the leaks may have been caused by sabotage, no version could be excluded”.

In a conference call he said with reporters that “By this news we are extremely worried”. “In an urgent investigation this is an unprecedented situation that requires.

Authorities issued navigation warnings by Danish and Swedish maritime, and established a prohibited area for vessels. Above the water and in the air, ships may lose buoyancy there may also be a risk of ignition.

Through Denmark the Baltic Pipe is a prominent element and is to start bringing Norwegian gas and on Oct. 1 along the Baltic Sea to Poland in the European Union’s search for energy security.

By Russian sabotage or anti-Russian sabotage the leaks could have been caused. An energy expert, Simone Tagliapietra, with the Bruegel think tank in Brussels, speculated.

As Poland inaugurated its pipeline with Norway, he said One possibility is Russia signalling it “is breaking forever with Western Europe and Germany”.

“This is a stark reminder of the exposure, in any case, to risk Europe’s gas infrastructure”, Tagliapietra said.

Source:- https://bloggerstow.com/baltic-pipeline-leaks-blasts-precede-sabotage-seen-likely/