Nord Stream AG reported on Tuesday that two separate technical incidents occurred on the Nord Stream-1 and Nord Stream-2 gas pipelines on Monday evening. The pressure in the pipeline fell in one of the lines Nord Stream 2. The problem was detected in pipeline A. The operator emphasized the fact that “unprecedented damage on the same day in the two branches of the Nord Stream -1 and in one of the Nord Stream-2”, which in turn caused “leakage” in the Baltic Sea, warning that “it is not yet possible to calculate the moment when the infrastructure will be repaired”.
The German newspaper ‘Der Tagesspiegel’ was quick to speculate that the disturbances could have been caused deliberately. And this morning, the Kremlin admitted it could be “sabotage.” “At the moment, no option can be ruled out,” said Russian presidency spokesman Dmitri Peskov, when journalists asked him whether what happened could be “sabotage”.
In his words, there is great concern in the Kremlin as, he pointed out, “an investigation needs to be carried out (…) it is an energy security issue that affects the entire continent.” “This is very worrying news. In fact, we are talking about damage of an unclear nature to the gas pipeline in the Danish economic zone,” he added.
The concerned services in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Russia have been informed of the situation. Subsequently, the gas pipeline operator Nord Stream-2 AG determined that the pressure drop occurred about 20 kilometers south-east of the island of Bornholm, in Danish waters.
According to the Russian agency Interfax, Nord Stream-2 AG, which already reported the gas leak on Monday, confirmed the data from the Danish regulator about the place of depressurization. “In cooperation with the coastal services, it has been determined that the incident occurred in the Danish Special Economic Zone. Coastal services have established a buffer zone with a radius of 5 nautical miles as a security measure,” the company said in a statement. For its part, the Danish maritime authority warned that the gas leak is “dangerous to maritime traffic (…) navigation is prohibited within a radius. of five nautical miles (approximately 9 km) around the indicated position”.
Nord Stream-1, with two parallel lines each with a capacity of 27.5 billion cubic meters per year, started supplying gas directly from Russia to Germany in 2011. Nord Stream-2, which runs almost parallel to the other pipeline and has a capacity of 55,000 cubic meters per year, construction was completed in September 2021, but so far it has not been commissioned because Germany has refused to certify it and Washington has applied sanctions.
The project was completely halted just days before President Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine on February 24. Putin said this month that if Europe needs Russian fuel, “they just have to push the button to start the Nord Stream-2.”
This pipeline runs from the «Slavianskaya» compressor in the Leningrad region to the Baltic coast of Germany via the seabed. The two gas pipelines are filled with gas, “technically prepared” and ready for operation.
Source: La Verdad
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