Key Insights Revealed About Nord Stream Pipeline Explosions by Scientists:-Scientists have unveiled important information about the explosions affecting the Nord Stream pipeline.
Norwegian researchers have disclosed additional findings regarding the 2022 explosions, along with a comprehensive chronology of the incidents.
In their investigation into the Nord Stream pipeline attack, scientists have divulged significant new information about the explosions associated with the incident, which remains unresolved as its first anniversary approaches. Researchers from Norway have shared seismic evidence of the four explosions, marking the first time a national entity has publicly affirmed the occurrence of the latter two detonations. Additionally, they have unveiled a comprehensive timeline detailing the sequence of events.
The recently uncovered additional explosions occurred in a location northeast of the Danish Baltic island of Bornholm. These explosions happened approximately seven seconds and 16 seconds following the two previously documented detonations.
By leveraging data from seismic stations across northern Europe and Germany, including the Swedish National Seismic Network and Danish monitoring stations on Bornholm, experts in seismology utilized advanced analytical methods to detect and precisely locate these explosions.
Seismologists based at Norsar, which serves as Norway’s national data center for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), informed The Guardian that they have identified a total of four explosions thus far. One of these explosions was situated southeast of Bornholm, while the remaining three occurred to the northeast of the island.
Two distinct seismic occurrences, labeled as Event S and Event N, were detected on September 26, 2022, shortly following the attack. The initial event, affecting Nord Stream 2, transpired at 02:03:24 (UTC+2), while the subsequent event, affecting Nord Stream 1, took place at 19:03:50 (UTC+2).
Norsar has indicated that there may potentially be additional explosions concealed within the data.
These explosions resulted in damage to both Nord Stream 1 pipelines and one of the Nord Stream 2 pipelines. By November of the preceding year, Swedish investigators had officially confirmed that these breaches were caused by explosives of human origin.
Investigations are still ongoing, but officials cited in American and German media have suggested that the evidence appears to point towards either a Ukrainian-supported group or a pro-Ukrainian faction operating independently of Kyiv’s leadership.
German investigators have centered their attention on a 51-foot rental yacht named the Andromeda, which was chartered by an enigmatic group consisting of five men and one woman, with at least some of them using fraudulent passports.
Der Spiegel, which reconstructed the route taken by the Andromeda, reported that investigators believed all the evidence pointed toward Kyiv’s involvement. However, there is a debate regarding whether a small team of divers operating from a pleasure yacht would have had the capability to execute the challenging, deep, and slow dives required to place the explosives.
A leaked document from the US Department of Defense, as reported by the Washington Post, revealed that the CIA had received a tip from a European ally agency in June 2022, three months before the attack. The tip indicated that six members of Ukraine’s special operations forces were planning to rent a boat and utilize a submersible vehicle for underwater dives using oxygen and helium for breathing, with the intention of sabotaging the pipeline. However, the leaked US document mentioned that the planned operation had been postponed.
Other reports in Scandinavian media have pointed to a group of Russian ships, with their identification transponders turned off, in the vicinity of the blast locations in the days preceding the explosions.
The Nord Stream pipelines are operated by two companies, Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG, both of which are majority-owned by the Russian state energy company Gazprom. Nord Stream 1 has been operational since 2012, while Nord Stream 2 was completed in September 2021 but has not transported any gas. It has faced significant controversy due to strong opposition from German allies, especially the United States and Poland, who were concerned about Europe’s reliance on Russian energy supplies.
The US had made it clear that bilateral relations would be negatively impacted if Nord Stream 2 became operational. Once the full-scale invasion of Ukraine commenced, any plans to open the pipeline were shelved.
The newly discovered events, named NB and NC, occurred roughly seven seconds and 16 seconds after the event previously known as Event N, which is now referred to as NA.
Denmark, Sweden, and Germany are reportedly planning to release a joint study in collaboration with Norsar as part of their investigations. Authorities in all three countries have declined to comment on the ongoing investigations.
In July, the UN Security Council was informed that traces of underwater explosives had been found in samples from a yacht, but it was challenging to definitively determine the identity or motivations of those involved or whether it could be attributed to a specific country.
Leveraging data from various seismic stations in northern Europe and Germany, including the Swedish National Seismic Network and the Danish stations situated on Bornholm, seismologists employed advanced analytical methods to detect the additional two explosions.
According to their calculations, the second and third explosions, labeled NA and NB, were approximately 220 meters apart, with the third explosion occurring to the west of the second. The fourth explosion was situated several kilometers southwest of the second.
Andreas Köhler, a senior seismologist at Norsar, noted that the distance between NA and NB closely matched the separation between both pipelines of Nord Stream 1 at the westernmost location of the gas plume to the northeast of Bornholm. It’s worth mentioning that both Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 consist of two pipelines each.
However, the precise location of the final explosion is less definitive due to fewer observations from monitoring stations. Köhler mentioned, “This location is most consistent with an explosion on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, but we cannot rule out a location on Nord Stream 2.”
Analysis of the source mechanism based on the signals indicated that the explosions were caused by explosive devices.
Norsar, headquartered in Kjeller near Oslo, is responsible for monitoring various global events, including nuclear tests in North Korea, the impact of CO2 storage on the Norwegian continental shelf, and conflicts such as the one in Ukraine.
Shock waves from a nuclear test in North Korea take 10 minutes to reach Norsar, with a location accuracy of 150-200 meters, earning them the claim of being “10 minutes from Kjeller to North Korea.”
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has opened up significant opportunities for Norsar to apply seismology in conflict monitoring. According to its CEO, Anne Strømmen Lycke, “The technology used to detect explosions on the other side of the globe can also be applied to identify explosions closer to home.”
Norsar began monitoring Ukraine on behalf of the Civil Radiation Authority following concerns about radioactive fallout over Norway in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The organization continues to monitor activities around the Chernobyl power plant and has been able to provide evidence to the UN truth commission.
In June, the scientists at Norsar successfully validated the precise timing and location of two reported explosions at the Kakhovka dam. They achieved this by analyzing data obtained from seismic stations located in both Romania and Ukraine.
Key Insights Revealed About Nord Stream Pipeline Explosions by Scientists
The precision of these observations and their practical applications have been truly remarkable. The United Nations truth commission for Ukraine has reached out to us, seeking to employ this factual data as a foundational reference for their deliberations.
Norsar is also exploring the potential use of its technology in the future for monitoring ceasefires. Anne Strømmen Lycke, the CEO of Norsar, stated, “We have the capability to differentiate between various helicopter types and very likely different types of weaponry based on frequency characteristics and signal distinctions. This could serve as a means to verify actions and subsequently track down those responsible for specific events. I believe this is why the UN truth commission has expressed interest in these capabilities.”
