Sweden on Monday blocked access to a five-nautical-mile zone in the area of leaks from the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, said the public prosecutor’s office investigating the alleged sabotage.
In order to carry out a deeper investigation for “aggravated sabotage”, the prosecution announced that it had decided to “blockade the area to carry out a crime scene investigation”. Pipeline leaks ceased or significantly decreased on Monday, clearing the way for an inspection of the damaged ones.
He refused to reveal the content of the investigation carried out by the Swedish authorities and piloted by the intelligence service of the Nordic country, Säpo. “I understand the considerable interest, but we are at an early stage of the investigation,” he said in the statement.
A blocking zone of more than 9.3 km.
According to the Swedish coast guard, in charge of mounting the blockade of the area, the latter extends over five nautical miles (about 9.3 kilometers). The blockade of the area implies “prohibiting navigation, anchoring, diving, driving underwater vehicles or making geophysical maps,” they add.
On Monday, the Swedish Coast Guard announced that boiling caused by gas leaks had ceased over the Nord Stream 1 pipeline but was continuing at a low intensity in Nord Stream 2. Four major leaks releasing thousands of tons of methane have hit since early last week the two gas pipelines off the Danish island of Bornholm.
Underwater explosions equivalent to “hundreds of kilos” of TNT are the origin of the leaks and “all available information indicates that these explosions are the result of a deliberate act,” Sweden and Denmark had indicated in an official report presented to the United Nations.
Russia, suspected of being the source of the leaks, had struck back on Wednesday, singling out the United States, which in turn denied any responsibility.
Source: BFM TV
