'Dark ships' offer new clues in the Nord Stream mystery

According to US tech magazine Wired and satellite data monitoring company SpaceKnow, two "dark ships" about 95 to 130 meters long were said to have been in the area where the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions occurred just days before. The ships are referred to as dark because they are practically invisible.

"We have detected some dark ships, meaning vessels that were of a significant size, that were passing through that area of interest,” Jerry Javornicky, the CEO and co-founder of SpaceKnow told Wired.

“They had their beacons off, meaning there was no information about their movement, and they were trying to keep their location information and general information hidden from the world,” Javornicky added.

This new information seems to confirm the idea that the leakage in the Nord Stream gas pipelines is a result of sabotage, as Swedish prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist stated last month: "The investigation into the crime scene has confirmed the suspicion of gross sabotage."

The leak has since been repaired and the barriers around the leaks have been lifted. However, Ljungqvist said that "the investigation is confidential and the case is very sensitive."

Photo: Nord Stream 2

According to Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod (pictured), a police-led task force of Danes, Germans and Swedes is currently leading the investigation into the spills.

The German Tagesschau news reports that Russia has indicated that it also wants to cooperate in this investigation. However, the three participating countries rejected this; something that has "stunned" the Kremlin, according to the Moscow Times.

NATO and the EU assume that the leaks were due to sabotage. A statement from the 30 NATO member states said all currently available information points to "deliberate, reckless and irresponsible acts of sabotage."

Image: Jens Stoltenberg, NATO, and Ursula von der Leyen, EU, on September 26, 2022 in Brussels

A possible responsible person is not mentioned in the statement. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has emphasized that a deliberate attack on key infrastructure of NATO members and allies will receive a concerted and determined response from NATO and the EU.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the Nord Stream leaks as "international terrorism." The Kremlin dismissed speculation about Russian involvement in the sabotage as "stupid and absurd."

According to the Swedish prosecutor's office, parts of the pipeline have been seized at the crime scene and are now under further investigation. Whether anyone can later be prosecuted for sabotage remains to be seen.

On September 26, the Danish authorities reported that they had found three leaks in gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. More than half of the gas had already escaped from the affected pipes, according to the Danish Energy Agency.

Pictured: Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen at a press conference on the issue on September 27.

Two days later, the Swedish Coast Guard reported that another gas leak had been found in the damaged Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea. This fourth leak was 656 feet or 200 meters long, according to various international media.

Image: Coast Guard Sweden/Getty

Since the leaks in Nord Stream 1 and 2 were discovered, there has been considerable speculation about the cause and those responsible for this disaster. The only thing that is certain is that precious gas has been lost.

Before the gas leaks were found, monitoring stations in Sweden and Denmark recorded underwater explosions in the Baltic Sea. Seismologist Björn Lund of the Swedish Seismological Network (SNSN) told Swedish broadcaster SVT that there was no doubt that the vibrations measured were caused by an explosion.

According to the German channel NDR, security experts assume that several hundred kilograms of explosives have been used. They are currently investigating how these explosives were transported and placed. The German navy is also involved in the investigation.

Some cite the US as a possible culprit. That suggestion comes not only from Russian Foreign Affairs spokesman Maria Zakharova (cited by the Eurasian Times), but also from Tucker Carlson on Fox News. They use the argument that the US government has always been against the construction of Nord Stream 2.

Security expert Johannes Peters of the University of Kiel told Germany's ARD that the US would never go so far as to "destroy the energy infrastructure of its main ally, Europe. Ultimately, this would mean doing what others have been doing for years. Trying – namely, driving the West, Europe and the US apart.”

Meanwhile, German energy expert Claudia Kemfert (pictured) warned on the Phoenix television channel that an energy war could break out. She fears there will be more attempts to destabilize energy supplies — possibly even through attacks on nuclear power plants.

Regardless of who is responsible for the damage, the environmental impact is devastating.

According to calculations by the German Environment Agency (UBA), the leaks in the Nord Stream pipelines lead to the emission of approximately 7.5 million tons of CO₂ equivalents. The calculation is based on the estimated fill status and volume information for the two pipelines.

According to the Environment Agency, there are no sealing mechanisms on the gas pipes. This allowed the entire contents of the pipes to escape.

In total, 0.3 million tons of methane is expected to enter the atmosphere. Methane is significantly more harmful to the climate than CO₂. Over a 100-year period, one ton of methane heats the atmosphere in the same way as 25 tons of CO₂. The climate impact of the spills must therefore be estimated at around 7.5 million tons of CO₂ equivalents, according to the German Environment Agency.

Experts assume that the investigation into the exact cause will take weeks. In any case, expensive and environmentally unfriendly gas has been irretrievably lost.

Image: Coast Guard Sweden/Getty