a fourth leak identified in the Baltic Sea, announce the Swedish coast guard

A fourth leak has been identified in the Baltic Sea above the Nord Stream gas pipelines, targeted by suspected sabotage, the Swedish coast guard said on Thursday (September 29th). “There are two leaks on the Swedish side and two leaks on the Danish side”, an official of the Swedish authority told AFP. So far the authorities of the two countries have reported three leaks: a leak over Nord Stream 1 in the northeast of the island of Bornholm, a leak on Nord Stream 2 in the southeast of the island and another to the northeast above Nord Stream 1.

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 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. This has worrying environmental consequences: the escaping gas contains methane, a powerful greenhouse gas (GHG), the second emitted by human activities causing global warming.

On Wednesday evening, the Swedish security (Säpo) declared having “taken over from the police the preliminary investigation into the events that occurred on Nord Stream. The reason given is currently aggravated sabotage”the service said. Russia is the subject from all suspicion. In response, Russian diplomacy implicitly accused the United States, which the White House judges “ridiculous”. Wednesday evening; the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office also announced that the security services (FSB) have opened an investigation for “an act of international terrorism”. A meeting of the UN Security Council will be held Friday in New York (United States) on this subject, at the request of Moscow.