Tuesday 27 September 2022

Nord Stream Pipelines Leaking

 
The Nord Stream pipelines have been at the centre of the current conflict between NATO and the Russian Federation from the outset. They run together along the bed of the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. Threats have been dished out in both directions regarding the flow of gas along the pipelines, on which Europe is dependent, and sanctions against its delivery. It seems an odd coincidence to me that they have both come down with major malfunctions in recent days. Strangely it was just after President Putin's supposed escalation of the war in Ukraine. On Monday morning a leak was detected in Nord Stream 2 just south of the Danish island of Bornholm. Literally a few hours later it was announced that Nord Stream 1 has also ruptured just to the north of that same island. The latter actually has two leaks. The response from the stock market was instantly to raise the price of Russian gas by 12% less than a month after it had stabilized. This will be bad news for everybody affected by the energy crisis. The Danish navy has shown a film of the bubbles rising to the surface from the pipes, which are at a depth of about three hundred feet. There is a patch of foam over six hundred feet across. Ships have been warned to avoid the area. There is the risk of fire from the gas igniting, but also vessels could flounder because the gas bubbles reduce water density, therefore buoyancy. (Gas bubbles escaping naturally from the seabed in the Atlantic Ocean could be the cause of some Bermuda Triangle ship disappearances.) Source: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/sep/27/nord-stream-1-2-pipelines-leak-baltic-sabotage-fears.
 
Accusations of sabotage began immediately. Noises were detected by underwater sensors that sound artificial and not natural, like explosives rather than an earthquake. Predictably, the Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said the damage was "an act of aggression" towards the EU by Russia. This was to cause more energy disruption during the winter. I suspect that this will become the official story. It is perfectly possible that Russians could do this. A torpedo from a submarine or charges planted by divers would do the trick. However, if Russia wanted to stop gas supplies to Europe, it could do so more easily simply by switching off the flow, as it has already done when the Nord Streams sprung their leaks. The pipelines belong to Gazprom, a company owned by the Russian state. It would be cutting off their nose to spite their face that they would destroy their own property. Repairs will be very difficult, dangerous and expensive. They may involve divers and seawater will need to be drained out. I think this is more likely a false flag by NATO; but more details will hopefully emerge to clarify the situation. I will report on them when they do.
See here for background: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2022/02/ukraine-war-portal.html.

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