Yacht, Divers Suspected in Pipeline Sabotage

Theory emerges in investigation update
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 12, 2023 9:45 AM CDT
Yacht May Have Carried Explosives to Pipelines
In this picture provided by Swedish Coast Guard, a leak from Nord Stream 2 is seen, on Sept. 28, 2022.   (Swedish Coast Guard via AP, File)

German investigators have found traces of explosives on a yacht possibly hired to transport material used to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year. Denmark, Sweden, and Germany are separately investigating the September attack, with Germany focusing on a yacht that six people reportedly hired from a Ukrainian-owned company in Poland before setting off from the German port of Rostock, per the AP. In a letter to the president of the UN Security Council, the UN ambassadors of the three countries say the yacht's course is not yet known, but "traces of subsea explosives were found in the samples taken from the boat."

The explosions in the Baltic Sea ruptured the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which was Russia's main natural gas supply route to Germany before supplies were cut off in the month before the blasts, and damaged the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which wasn't in service. "The nature of the acts of sabotage is unprecedented and the investigations are complex," according to the letter dated Monday. It notes German investigators collected "metal fragments" near the leak locations, in addition to soil and water samples. They also discovered a 50-foot yacht dubbed Andromeda "had been chartered in the name of a person who used documents provided in order to hide the identity of the real charterer."

"Whether this person was in fact subsequently on board has not been established," according to the letter, which goes on to say that the boat "may have been used to transport the explosives" and "trained divers could have attached explosives at the points where damage occurred" to the pipelines, some 230 feet to 265 feet beneath the sea's surface. "At this point it is not possible to reliably establish the identity of the perpetrators and their motives, particularly regarding the question of whether the incident was steered by a state or state actor," the letter states, per Reuters. "All information to clarify the matter will be pursued during the continuing investigations." (More Nord Stream stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X