Danish Ship, Swedish Plane, Corvette Seen Near Nord Stream 4 Days Before Blast - Reports

A Danish naval vessel, a Swedish air force surveillance aircraft and a corvette made unusual maneuvers near the Nord Stream gas pipelines four days before the explosions, the Times newspaper reported Friday, citing a Danish researcher and data from vessel tracking services

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th March, 2023) A Danish naval vessel, a Swedish air force surveillance aircraft and a corvette made unusual maneuvers near the Nord Stream gas pipelines four days before the explosions, the Times newspaper reported Friday, citing a Danish researcher and data from vessel tracking services.

Danish vessel P524 Nymfen, tasked with tracking the movement of Russian ships, unexpectedly deviated from its usual course in late September, the report read. The ship rounded the Baltic island of Bornholm for the first time in several years and headed northeast, then stopped for half an hour and turned off its transponders, disappearing from international tracking systems for several hours, according to the report. A few minutes later, a Swedish air force surveillance plane reportedly began circling nearby, and a Swedish patrol ship was also spotted in that area.

"It does appear that this Danish surveillance vessel went around the explosion sites for a reason," Jacob Kaarsbo, a former Danish intelligence officer and currently a senior analyst at Think Tank Europa in Copenhagen, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

However, according to the report, there was no obvious evidence of unusual Russian vessel activity in the area around that time.

German sources close to the investigation into the attacks said the authorities were no closer to solving the case.

"We genuinely don't know who did it," one official was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, built to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, were hit by explosions last September. Nord Stream's operator, Nord Stream AG, said that the damage was unprecedented and it was impossible to estimate the time repairs might take.

Earlier in the month, the New York Times reported that intelligence suggested the involvement of a "pro-Ukrainian group" in the Nord Stream incidents. US officials said there was no proof the Ukrainian leadership was involved in the operation. German newspaper Zeit reported later, citing investigators, that the attacks had been carried out by six people of unknown nationality with the use of a boat rented from a firm based in Poland and owned by two Ukrainians.

Russia considers the explosions of the two pipelines an act of international terrorism. There are no official results of the investigation yet, but US journalist and Pulitzer prize winner Seymour Hersh alleged that the explosions were organized by the United States with the support of Norway. The US denies its involvement in the incident.