Europe Investigates Unexplained Leaks in Nord Stream Gas Pipelines

The incidents have no impact on Europe’s gas supply because both links aren’t currently in use. Germany halted the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in February over Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, while Moscow this month indefinitely stopped flows via Nord Stream. Experts, however, said the gas leaks could damage the climate.

The Nord Stream pipelines have been at the heart of an escalating economic war between Moscow and the West that has pushed gas prices to records and threatens to hobble European industry.

Western officials say that the Kremlin has weaponized its gas deliveries to Europe to punish governments for their support for Ukraine. Russia blames Western sanctions for its closure of Nord Stream, the biggest gas pipeline linking Russia to Europe.

“There are initial reports indicating this may be the result of an attack or some kind of sabotage, but these are initial reports and we haven’t confirmed that yet,” said U.S. Secretary of State

Antony Blinken,

speaking on Tuesday at a news conference in Washington. “But if it is confirmed, that’s clearly in no one’s interest.”

On Tuesday, the Swedish Maritime Administration said it had detected a total of three leaks in both pipelines in Swedish and Danish waters outside of the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. The administration sent out navigation warnings that ships should stay 5 nautical miles away from the area. It also said that aircraft should keep at a safe altitude of 1,000 meters, or 3,280 feet, over the location.

It is currently unclear what has caused the leaks, authorities said, but the incident raised fears about a possible sabotage operation and prompted questions about the security of Europe’s energy infrastructure.

“We faced an act of sabotage,” Polish Prime Minister

Mateusz Morawiecki

said, cited by Poland’s national news agency. “We don’t know all the details of what happened, but we see clearly that it’s an act of sabotage, an act that probably marks another step in the escalation of the situation in Ukraine.”

Danish Prime Minister

Mette Frederiksen

told public broadcaster DR that, while it was too early to conclude what happened, “it is an extraordinary situation, there are three leaks, and therefore it is difficult to imagine that it could be accidental.”

On Tuesday evening, European Commission President

Ursula von der Leyen

said on Twitter she had spoken to the Danish prime minister about what she called “the sabotage action” against Nord Stream and she called for an investigation into what had happened.

“Any deliberate disruption of active European energy infrastructure is unacceptable & will lead to the strongest possible response,” she wrote.

The Kremlin on Tuesday said it was extremely concerned about the news and called the incident “an unprecedented situation requiring urgent investigation.” Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines might be a result of sabotage, though it was impossible to know until the results of the investigation were released.

Seismologists at the Swedish National Seismic Network said they registered two powerful tremors in the areas of the Nord Stream gas leaks on Monday. The first took place south of Bornholm at around 2 a.m. local time on Monday with a magnitude of around 1.8 on the Richter scale, while the second one took place around 7 p.m. northeast of the island with a magnitude of around 2.3.

“We are pretty sure that the two events were blasts. They are not earthquakes,” said Michael Roth, seismologist at the Swedish National Seismic Network.

German geological research center GFZ also said it had detected two tremors at the same time and location that couldn’t be earthquakes.

Natural-gas prices in Europe rose some 5% Tuesday after the reports of the leaks.

In response to the incident, Denmark is raising the level of preparedness for the electricity and gas sector.

Leaks on two Russian natural-gas pipelines

European authorities are investigating gas leaks on the two Nord Stream pipelines after pressure dropped suddenly on Monday.

Concrete weight coating: 2.4 to 3.9 inches

Pipe steel

1.1 to 1.6 inches

Corrosion protection: 0.16 inches

Leaks on two Russian natural-gas pipelines

European authorities are investigating gas leaks on the two Nord Stream pipelines after pressure dropped suddenly on Monday.

Concrete weight coating:

2.4 to 3.9 inches

Pipe steel

1.1 to 1.6 inches

Corrosion

protection: 0.16 inches

Leaks on two Russian natural-gas pipelines

European authorities are investigating gas leaks on the two Nord Stream pipelines after pressure dropped suddenly on Monday.

Concrete weight coating:

2.4 to 3.9 inches

Pipe steel

1.1 to 1.6 inches

Corrosion protection:

0.16 inches

“Breakage of gas pipelines is extremely rare, and therefore we see reason to raise the preparedness level as a result,” said the director of the Danish Energy Agency, Kristoffer Böttzauw. “We want to ensure thorough monitoring of Denmark’s critical infrastructure in order to strengthen security of supply going forward.”

Simone Tagliapietra, a senior fellow at Brussels think tank Bruegel, said that a sabotage operation could be either directed against Russia or perpetrated by Russia.

Russia might be seeking to “create further stress in the EU gas market, even as flows through Nord Stream have already been cut off,” he said. “Or as a signal that Russia is breaking forever with Western Europe and Germany.”

The incidents come as a new gas pipeline between Norway and Poland was inaugurated on Tuesday. A sabotage on Nord Stream around the launch of that new connection would be symbolic, Mr. Tagliapietra said.

“In any case, this is a stark reminder of the exposure to risk of Europe’s gas infrastructure,” he said.

Analysts said an investigation would take a long time because it would involve submarines exploring the seabed where the pipelines are laid.

Both the German and Danish authorities said that the incidents had no impact on the security of supply.

The German economy, which depended for more than half of its gas imports on Russia before the Ukraine war, has since come under pressure as Moscow has limited supplies. Still, Germany’s gas stores are around 91% full, providing a safety cushion for the country ahead of winter.

While the pipelines aren’t in use, they contain gas under pressure. Experts don’t see a significant environmental danger for the seabed because the gas isn’t poisonous and would mostly bubble up to the surface. Nearby populations also aren’t under any risk, Danish authorities said.

From there, however, methane, the largest component of natural gas, could escape into the air and contribute to global warming.

“There’s reason to fear that significant quantities of the very potent greenhouse gas methane have already leaked into the atmosphere,” said Sascha Müller-Kraenner, executive director of Environmental Action Germany.

Footage released by the Danish Armed Forces on Tuesday showed bubbles rising to the sea surface from one of the leaks. Denmark has sent a Navy frigate as well as a pollution-control vessel and helicopters to the area, the military said.

The Nord Stream pipelines are laid mostly along the seabed, and each is more than 750 miles long. The pipelines are coated with concrete to guarantee their stability, according to the operator.

Russia throttled gas exports to Europe via Nord Stream over the summer, blaming technical problems because of Western sanctions—explanations that European governments have dismissed as a pretext to punish Europe. Earlier this month, Moscow said it would indefinitely suspend the pipeline. Nord Stream was first launched in 2011.

Nord Stream 2 was designed to double the flow of Russian gas direct to Germany. The pipeline was completed but never certified by the German authorities who ultimately froze the project in February, days before Russian troops entered Ukraine.

Write to Georgi Kantchev at [email protected]