Gas leak in Nord Stream pipelines and impact on shipping

Details of the leak

On the night of Monday, September 26, the Nord Stream onshore site controller recorded a sharp drop in pressure in the pipelines. In particular, the pressure in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline dropped from 105 to 7 bar. 

A large area of bubbles has appeared off the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, indicating a gas leak. The coast services of Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Russia were notified about the incident. No word yet on the cause of the leaks.

Due to leaks in gas pipelines in Swedish and Danish waters near the island of Bornholm, the Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) sent out navigational warnings on Navtex and VHF to keep ships out of the area. A warning was also issued to pilots about the need to fly at an altitude of at least 1,000 meters above the leaks.

The Danish authorities have created a safe route that goes past the leaks. The navigational warning asks civilian ships to stay away from Bornholm Island.

Accident investigation

An investigation into the cause of the accident has already been launched. The German authorities, where the receiving terminals of both highways are located, are considering the version of deliberate damage to the pipeline.

Interestingly, the gas leak on the Russian pipeline occurred the day before the official launch of the Baltic Pipe to supply gas from Norway to Poland. This project is one of the most important for Warsaw. Thanks to Baltic Pipe, Poland gains energy independence from Russian gas.

The Swedish Maritime Administration said it had no information on the cause of the leak. The administration also reports: “Our task in this situation is as follows. We are warning vessels in the vicinity and asking them to keep a safe distance of 5 nautical miles (about 9 km) from the points. This is a well-measured safety zone. Our task is to ensure the safety of delivery, for which we warn ships that are approaching too close to the leak points.”

Effects

The mysterious explosion at the gas pipeline was so big that it caused an earthquake. The National Seismological Center of Sweden (SNSN) confirmed that the force of one of the explosions was 2.3 on the Richter scale.

Nord Stream 1 has two leaks northeast of Bornholm and Nord Stream 2 has one leak south of Dueodde. They were discovered on Monday by the Danish defense F-16 intercept unit. According to the head of the Danish Energy Agency, Christoffer Bottzauva, it could take up to a week to stop the gas leak from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Impact on shipping and yachting

It is not for us to talk about “gas” motives, but one thing is for sure. The process of "zeroing" yachting in the Baltic region has been actively launched. This is not the first time Russia has demonstrated its absolutely terrorist habits, and such an incident is no exception. 

Despite the fact that sea routes will soon be restored, the accident has already damaged the economy of many countries due to changes in the logistics of sending and receiving ships. The same can be said about yachting.

The Russian Federation openly creates problems for other countries and their shipping. Moreover, the environment. We are anxiously awaiting research by environmentalists on the impact of a gas leak on marine life.

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29.09.2022