OSLO (Reuters) – The Swedish Coast Guard said on Thursday it detected a fourth gas leak in damaged Nord Stream pipelines earlier this week, after cracks were first reported on Monday that sent gas flowing into the Baltic Sea.
The European Union suspected sabotage was behind the leaks on Russian undersea pipelines to Europe, and promised a “robust” response to any deliberate disruption of energy infrastructure.
The spill reported on Thursday is the second to be found in Swedish waters, while two others have been discovered in Danish waters.
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While neither pipeline was in use at the time of the suspected explosions, they had been filled with gas that has been spurting and spurting onto the surface of the Baltic Sea since Monday.
“There are two emissions sites in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone, the largest site above Nord Stream 1 and another smaller than Nord Stream 2,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.
She added that the distance between the two sites was about 1.8 km.
Danish authorities also reported one hole in each of the two sections of the pipeline in its exclusive economic zone.
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(Report) Submitted by Terje Solsvik and Sten Jacobsen; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Jean Harvey
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