European countries have detected “unexplained” leaks in two Russian gas pipelines under the Baltic sea near Sweden and Denmark.
On Monday, the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) announced the leak from Nord Steam 2 pipeline in the Danish waters of the Baltic sea.
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The leak poses a potential hazard to naval traffic. As a result, the Danish Maritime Authority reported a navigational warning and issued a prohibitive zone within five nautical miles.
According to Reuters, neither of the damaged pipelines was pumping gas to Europe when the countries found the leaks.
“There are no security risks related to the leak outside of the prohibitive zone. The incident is not expected to have consequences [for] the security of the Danish gas supply,” a DEA representative said.
The Maritime Authority of Sweden previously issued a warning regarding two leaks at an unknown location in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
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By GlobalDataAccording to preliminary findings, the leak was found in one of the two Nord Stream 2 pipes in the Danish area southeast of Dueodde in Bornholm, a Danish island in the Baltic Sea.
Danish Climate and Energy Minister Dan Jørgensen told Agence France-Presse that authorities in the country have asked for “greater levels of readiness in the power and gas sectors.”
“Breaches of gas pipelines happen extremely rarely … We want to ensure thorough monitoring of Denmark’s critical infrastructure in order to strengthen the security of supply in the future,” Head of the DEA, Kristoffer Bottzauw, told Reuters.
Federal security authorities have started investigations into both gas leaks. A report from German daily newspaper Tagesspiegel said that “forensic results” should not be expected soon.
The severe pressure losses in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline supposedly indicate a large leak. “We can’t imagine a scenario that isn’t a targeted attack,” a person familiar with the federal government’s assessment told the paper. “All the evidence speaks against a coincidence”
Earlier this month, Russian state-owned energy corporation Gazprom indefinitely shut down gas flows through Nord Steam 1 pipeline to Germany, citing maintenance works.
Gazprom found this leak in the primary gas turbine at the Portovaya compressor station near St. Petersburg on 2 September.
