Sweden reports 4th leak on Nord Stream pipelines

LONDON

A fourth leak was reported Thursday in the Nord Stream gas pipelines off the coast of Sweden, authorities said.

"There are two emissions in the Swedish economic zone, a larger one at Nord Stream 1 and a smaller one at Nord Stream 2," the Swedish Coast Guard said in a press statement.

The distance between the two leaks is 1 nautical mile, which corresponds to just over 1.8 kilometers, the coast guard said

Two other leaks, in the pipelines that run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, were also reported in the Danish economic zone.

Both Swedish and Danish seismic measurements show that two explosions took place just hours before the leaks were discovered.

Experts maintain that it will be difficult to find concrete evidence of the explosions at the Nord Stream.

Hans Liwang, a researcher at the Swedish Defence University, told the local daily DN that traces of the explosive device can be found along the pipeline, but it is highly likely that the evidence will disappear when the gas moves up.

Danish Energy Board estimated on Wednesday that all gas will leak out by Sunday.

The Nord Stream's vulnerability to explosions was hotly debated even before the start of the project in 2007.

The Swedish National Defense Research Institute reported that despite its concrete scale, the Nord Stream is quite vulnerable and that a diver would be enough to attach an explosive device.

EU and the US have hinted that Russia planted explosives on the pipeline, a charge the Kremlin has dismissed as "stupid."

Just as Russian-owned Nord Stream 2 was ready to start pumping gas to Germany, the move was stalled by Berlin as a reaction to Russia's war on Ukraine.

Russia cut supply to Nord Stream 1 in a tit-for-tat move to exacerbate Europe's energy crisis and pressurize it into lifting sanctions on Moscow.