The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines have been punctured. The pipes are built to transport Russian gas to Western Europe. Both lines consist of two parallel pipes. There are thus four pipes in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 system. Three of them have been punctured, the responsible companies informed the Danish Energy Agency. The condition of the fourth pipe is not publicly known. Swedish authorities state on Thursday that there are a total of four leaks from the pipes. The fourth was discovered on Tuesday. There is a minor leak. The Danish and Swedish authorities state that they both have one leak each in Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. It is therefore unknown whether the fourth pipe also has damage. If it is also damaged, there are no functioning pipes in the Nord Stream system. NEARBY: Four holes have been discovered in the pipes. One of them is two kilometers outside Danish territorial waters. Photo: Ben Brown/Open Street Map Enormous spills The Danes were also told that all three pipes contained natural gas under pressure. They fear that as much as 778 million cubic meters of gas will escape into nature. According to the Danish Energy Agency, the leaks will last until Sunday. Natural gas consists for the most part of the strongly climate-driving gas methane. The gas spreads over a wide area. The researchers at the Hyltemossa research station in the southern part of Sweden have seen a very strong increase. The sabotage took place in international waters, but in the Swedish and Danish economic zones. The holes were discovered every few hours on Monday 26 September. The pressure in the pipes dropped considerably and gas bubbles were seen on the surface. The operator of Nord Stream 1 reported that both lines were punctured. TWO BANGS: Seismic stations in several countries registered the tremors. This is the signal from both as they were picked up on the Danish island of Bornholm. The first bang occurred at 02:03 Norwegian time on Monday 26 September. The second was at 19:04 Norwegian time on the same day. Photo: German Center for Georesearch / Reuters Swedish researchers reported two so-called seismic events in the area. That means the ground moved. They think something has exploded. The two incidents occurred 17 hours apart. On Thursday, they stated that there was also a hint of a third incident. ENCAPSULATED: Cross-section of one steel pipe used in the Nord Stream pipelines. The concrete makes the pipe so heavy that it rests solidly on the bottom. Photo: Nord Stream AG Vulnerable pipes Pictures of the holes in the pipes have not been shown publicly. The pipes are made of steel with an internal diameter of 1,158 millimeters. The wires consist of segments. Each part is twelve meters long and weighs approximately 24 tons. The steel pipes are mostly located directly on the seabed. They are encapsulated with a six to eleven centimeter thick layer of concrete. The concrete both protects the pipe and acts as ballast. Parts of the line are covered by stone. The stone is placed where extra protection and support is needed. GOOD ACCESS: Only parts of the pipeline are stabilized and protected by gravel. Photo: Ramboll The thickness of the steel in the pipe varies between 34 and 26 millimeters. That’s because the pressure varies. It is highest at the beginning in Russia and lowest at arrival in Germany. Directed charge Researcher at the Norwegian Naval Academy, Tor Ivar Strømmen, believes that it is relatively easy to punch holes in such cables. He states that there is no need for large quantities of explosives. – The most effective thing is to use a directed charge. Then you punch a hole in the pipe. Inside the tube there is gas with over a hundred atmospheres of pressure. Then a small breach will quickly expand, says Strømmen. VULNERABLE: Naval captain and researcher Tor Ivar Strømmen states that gas pipelines are vulnerable. Photo: Forsvarets høgskole A directed charge is an explosive that is shaped so that much of the explosive energy is concentrated in a limited area. Civilian vessels Large parts of the sea where the cables run are shallow. The depth where the gas pipes run is between 15 and 210 metres. The depth is rarely more than a hundred meters. The stream states that parts of the pipes are therefore relatively easily accessible to divers. He still believes that an unmanned underwater vessel was used. He also does not believe that this vessel was controlled from a warship. GRUNT: In both the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, it is mostly a short way down to the seabed. Photo: OpenMap – It is most likely that a civilian vessel was used. A boat with a diving well. Then they can stop near the pipe and release the underwater vessel without being seen, believes Strømmen. Pointing to Russia The Nordic prime ministers believe that everything indicates that it was an act of sabotage. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said at a press conference on Wednesday evening that she believes a state actor must be behind it. 778 MILLION CUBIC: The emissions of gas continue on Wednesday. The calculations indicate that it will take place until Sunday. Then as much as 778 million cubic meters of gas could have been added to the atmosphere. Photo: Planet / AFP Many believe that Russia is responsible for the sabotage. One of them is the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. The Ukrainian government also blames the Russians. There must be several reasons. The Polish government believes it is to further destabilize the energy market. The Ukrainians claim it is an act of terrorism intended to frighten the population of Europe. Can attack other targets What many fall for is the same as researcher Julian Pawlak at the German Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies. TULLETE: The spokesman for the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, believes it is completely absurd to accuse Russia of destroying its own infrastructure. Photo: SPUTNIK / Reuters – The most important message anyone wants to send here is that what we are doing now with these inactive pipelines can be done against other pipelines that are active. It can also be done against other infrastructure, says Pawlak to the New York Times. Denies Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press conference on Wednesday that the accusations against Russia were idiotic. – The pipes were ready to deliver gas. Now the expensive gas disappears into the air. Are we interested in that happening? No, we have lost a delivery route to Europe, Peskov said. CAN’T GET HIS WAY: German demonstration to reopen the Nord Stream gas pipelines. Regardless of political pressure from the population, it is now not possible. Photo: JOACHIM HERRMANN / Reuters Ukraine and others In the last few days there has been a series of more or less serious speculations in the media about who else could have carried out the sabotage. Researcher Emma Ashford at the Stimson Center has summarized them in a thread on Twitter. The thread begins with many reasons why the culprit is Russia. Then come those who she believes are unlikely to have done it: Ukraine did it because it is in the country’s interest that the pipelines do not work. Then Europe cannot fall back to old energy habits, no matter how cold the winter gets. The US did it. The country has always been opposed to Nord Stream because of the dependence on Russia it gives a number of European countries. Poland or one of the Baltic states. This is also to ensure that gas-hungry states in the eurozone do not bow to Russia.
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