Sweden on Monday blocked access to a five-nautical-mile zone in the area of leaking Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, the prosecutor’s office investigating the alleged sabotage announced.
In order to further investigate for “aggravated sabotage,” the prosecutors’ office announced that it had decided to “block off the area to conduct a crime scene investigation.”
Leaks on gas pipelines stopped or dropped significantly on Monday, paving the way for an inspection of damaged ones.
“The investigation continues, we are at an intense stage,” said prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist, declining to say what Swedish authorities were doing in their investigation, led by the Nordic country’s intelligence service, Säpo.
“I understand the considerable interest, but we are at an early stage of the investigation,” he justified in the statement.
According to the Swedish Coast Guard, which was responsible for setting up the blockade, the area extends over five nautical miles (about 9.3 kilometers).
The blocking of the area involves “the prohibition of navigation, anchoring, diving, driving underwater vehicles or geophysical mapping,” they added.
On Monday, the Swedish Coast Guard announced that the bubbling caused by the gas leaks had stopped over the Nord Stream 1 pipeline but continued at low intensity on Nord Stream 2.
Four large leaks releasing thousands of tons of methane have affected the two gas pipelines off the Danish island of Bornholm since the beginning of last week.
Underwater explosions equivalent to “hundreds of kilograms” of TNT are at the origin of the leaks and “all available information indicates that these explosions are the consequence of a deliberate act”, said Sweden and Denmark in an official report submitted to the United Nations.
Suspected of being the source of the leaks, Russia had counter-attacked on Wednesday, pointing to the United States, which in turn denied any responsibility.
