German Drone Finds 26-Foot Gash in Nord Stream 1 That Could Only be Caused by Explosion - Report
18:49 GMT 14.10.2022 (Updated: 17:08 GMT 31.07.2023)
© Photo : Swedish Coast Guard
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An underwater drone operated by German federal police took the first photos of the rupture site on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline since the leak was shut off on October 2. The pipeline had gas in it at the time, despite a halt in deliveries since early last month, when Brussels imposed price caps on the purchase of Russian gas.
According to German public broadcaster ARD on Friday, an underwater drone recorded a 26-foot gash in the pipeline that could only have been caused by an explosive charge.
The inspection of the site, the first since the massive gas leak was shut down on October 2, showed that both Nord Stream 1 pipes and one of the Nord Stream 2 pipes were struck in several places, leaving just the second Nord Stream 2 pipeline operational.
A loss in pressure in the pipes was recorded on September 2, and the roiling surface of the sea in Danish and Swedish waters revealed a massive hemorrhage of gas from the pipeline. By the time it was plugged on October 2, the leaks had released an estimated 500,000 tons of methane gas and filled hundreds of kilometers of pipe with seawater. Gazprom estimates repairs will take at least one year. Moscow has called the incident an act of terrorism, while Berlin has called it sabotage.
German Report Found No Energy Security Risk
The discovery comes after the release of a newly declassified German government report showing that in the months prior to the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, Berlin judged the Nord Stream 2 pipeline would pose no risk to European energy security, as Moscow has always been a reliable contract partner.
First obtained by Der Spiegel earlier this week, the report was given to then-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Change on October 26, 2021. Merkel’s government had about six weeks left before it was replaced by Olaf Schotz’s SPD-led coalition. At the time, he was Merkel’s finance minister and vice-chancellor.
"Overall, the assessment comes to the conclusion that the granting of certification [for Nord Stream 2] does not jeopardize the security of gas supply in Germany and the European Union," the document says.
"For both the German and neighboring markets, the risk of serious impairments to supply security due to the failure of individual import supply infrastructures is very limited."
Indeed, in the end it was Germany that terminated the Nord Stream 2 pipeline after it had already been completed, following the launching of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine in February, and it was the European Union’s actions that broke the gas contract with Russia, leading to Nord Stream 1’s shutoff last month.
A painting showing the Nord Stream pipelines is displayed on a container near the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline in Lubmin, Germany, Wednesday, July 20, 2022
© AP Photo / Markus Schreiber
Merkel’s decision to continue with the Nord Stream 2 project, and the conclusions expressed in the declassified file, were both sharply contrary to the wishes of several German allies, most especially the United States. US President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, both sanctioned Russia and the companies involved in building the pipeline, which runs alongside Nord Stream 1 to carry liquified natural gas (LNG) from Russia to Germany underneath the Baltic Sea.
At the time, Schotz blasted the sanctions as "a severe intervention in German and European internal affairs.”
Washington claimed that Russia intended to use the pipeline as a coercive tool to keep Europe in line by threatening to turn off the gas. Instead, the US has urged European nations to buy American LNG, even though it was more expensive than Russian gas.
Grappling Over Gas
After Russia launched its special operation in Ukraine to eliminate the neo-Nazi threat against Russian-speakers in the region and to neutralize Ukraine as a potential base for a NATO attack against Russia, the US and EU responded with sanctions that included a boycott of Russian energy exports. However, while the US immediately ended purchases of Russian oil and gas, Europe, which gets nearly half its gas from Russia, has dragged its feet on complying with US demands. During much of that time, gas continued to flow through Nord Stream 1, even as Berlin sent military aid to Kiev to be used against Russian forces in what has increasingly become a NATO proxy war.
Those sanctions have helped push up the price of gas around the globe, hurting not just European nations, but much smaller and poorer countries less able to weather the financial blow.
Only last month, when the EU refused to buy gas from Russia at the offered price and imposed a price cap, did Gazprom turn the pipeline off.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and U.S. President Joe Biden make brief remarks to the press before a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on July 15, 2021 in Washington, DC. During what is likely her last official visit to Washington, the leaders are expected to discuss their shared priorities on climate change and defense; and Biden is expected to voice his concerns about the Nord Stream 2 Russian natural gas pipeline.
© AFP 2023 / POOL
“We will curtail Putin’s capacity to fund his war from oil exports by banning services, such as insurance and the provision of finance, to vessels carrying Russian oil above an agreed price cap,” British Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi said on September 2 following a meeting of G7 finance ministers.
“We are united against this barbaric aggression and will do all we can to support Ukraine as they fight for sovereignty, democracy and freedom,” he added.
The point is now somewhat moot, since the explosion has crippled Nord Stream 1 for at least a year. On Wednesday, Moscow proposed that gas deliveries to Germany could resume via the undamaged Nord Stream 2 pipeline, but Schotz’s government declined the offer.
"The ball is in the EU's court. If they want to, then the taps can be turned on and that's it," Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.
