First images of Nord Stream pipeline explosion reveal 50m hole

Images captured by underwater cameras reveal that at least 50 metres of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline are missing. (Photo: Blue Eye Robotics)

New underwater photographs reveal that an explosion in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline last month wrecked 50 meters of pipe.

Video footage reveals a major rupture, with a significant portion of the pipe either missing or buried beneath the seafloor.

Trond Larsen, a drone operator with the Norwegian company Blueye Robotics, told the Danish daily Expressen, "Only a tremendous force can bend metal that thick in the way that we are seeing."

The operator of the submersible drone, Larsen, stated that there was also "a very large impact on the seabed around the pipe."

Explosions beneath the Baltic Sea damaged the two Nord Stream pipelines at the end of September, resulting in four leaks.

While the explosions occurred in international waters, two of them occurred within the Danish exclusive economic zone, and the other two occurred within the Swedish zone.

Since the explosions, Swedish and Danish officials have been conducting investigations.

Tuesday, Danish officials stated that there had been "extensive damage" to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark, and that "powerful explosions" were the reason.

The Swedish authorities declared on October 6 that they had performed an underwater assessment of the site and gathered "items of evidence" in support of their suspicions of possible sabotage, which the inspection confirmed.

The pipelines connecting Russia and Germany have been at the center of geopolitical tensions as Russia reduces gas supply to Europe in what is believed to be retribution for Western sanctions imposed in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The explosions have been labeled an act of sabotage by world leaders, while Moscow has attempted to shift the blame on the West, implying that the United States stands to benefit. The United States has denied any connection.

For several days, the damaged Nord Stream pipes released enormous quantities of methane, a strong greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.

Tuesday, the Kremlin stated that the international probe into the explosions was created to blame Russia.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesman, stated that "elementary logic" demonstrated that the pipeline damage was detrimental to Russian interests.

He stated that the probe was being done "in secret" without Moscow's participation.

Publish : 2022-10-19 08:14:00

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