Fears of sabotage as gas leaks into Baltic from Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines
Gas is seeping into the Baltic Sea from three separate leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, Denmark’s energy agency confirmed on Tuesday, prompting speculation that the infrastructure at the heart of the energy standoff between Russia and Europe had been deliberately damaged.
The Danish energy agency said it had found two leaks on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline north-east of the island of Bornholm, and a third in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in Swedish waters south-east of the island.
A five-mile exclusion zone for shipping has been set up around Bornholm, and flights below 1,000 metres have been banned in the area. Methane, the primary component of natural gas, partially dissolves in water, is not toxic and creates no hazard when inhaled in limited quantities.
“Breakage of gas pipelines is extremely rare”, Danish authorities said in a statement. “Therefore we see reason to raise the preparedness level as a result of the incidents we have seen over the past 24 hours.”
Nord Stream AG, the pipeline operator, had on Monday morning reported an unexpected overnight drop of pressure from 105 to 7 bar in Nord Stream 2, which is filled with gas but was cancelled by Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, shortly before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A further drop of pressure was reported on Monday afternoon in Nord Stream 1, which Russia shut down indefinitely at the start of September, initially saying it needed repairs.
German and Danish authorities would initially not comment on the cause of the extremely rare leaks while investigations were continuing. But the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, on Tuesday afternoon said she “cannot rule out” the possibility of sabotage.
With three separate leaks happening almost simultaneously
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