A fourth leak has been identified in the Baltic Sea above the Nord Stream gas pipelines targeted by suspected sabotage, we learned from the Swedish coastguard on Thursday.
“There are two leaks on the Swedish side and two leaks on the Danish side,” an official from the Swedish authority told AFP.
So far the authorities of the two countries had reported a leak on the Swedish side and two leaks on the Danish side.
Following two suspicious explosions that took place on Monday morning and evening, these are in international waters off the Danish island of Bornholm but in the respective exclusive economic zones of the two Scandinavian countries.
The Swedish coast guard could not immediately specify why the report of this new leak took place only late. But the two leaks on the Swedish side are located in the same area, they said.
“The distance is something subjective but they are close to each other,” the coast guard official said.
The authority was unable to confirm reports from Swedish media that this new leak is located above the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Sweden had so far reported a leak over Nord Stream 1 northeast of the island of Bornholm. Denmark has confirmed a leak on Nord Stream 2 to the southeast of the island, and another to the northeast above Nord Stream 1.
The vast leaks cause significant marine bubbling several hundred meters wide on the surface which makes it impossible to immediately inspect the structures, according to the authorities.
The object of all suspicion after the alleged sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, Russia counter-attacked on Wednesday, pointing the United States and obtaining a meeting of the UN Security Council, Washington in return denouncing a new operation of “disinformation”.