Damage to a Baltic Sea gas pipeline earlier this month is believed to have been caused by a ship dragging a large anchor along the seabed, but it was too early to tell if this was an accident or a deliberate act, Finnish police said on Tuesday.
HELSINKI, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Damage to a Baltic Sea gas pipeline earlier this month is believed to have been caused by a ship dragging a large anchor along the seabed, but it was too early to tell if this was an accident or a deliberate act, Finnish police said on Tuesday.
Broad drag marks were seen on the seabed leading up to where the pipeline was broken, and the anchor was lying immediately after the damage spot.
“The next questions are about whether it was intentional, negligence, poor seamanship, and that’s where we get into whether there could be a motive for what’s going on,” National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) chief Robin Lardot told a press conference.
The NBI on Friday said they were focusing their probe on the Chinese NewNew Polar Bear container vessel that had travelled above the pipeline and the cables at the time of the damage.
The NBI on Tuesday said they had established that the NewNew Polar Bear was in fact missing one of its front anchors, and said they had tried unsuccessfully to contact the ship to ask whether this was the one retrieved in the Gulf of Finland.
In September 2022, the larger Nord Stream pipelines connecting Germany and Russia were damaged by explosions that authorities have said were deliberate acts of sabotage, although it is still unclear who was behind the attack.
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HELSINKI, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Damage to a Baltic Sea gas pipeline earlier this month is believed to have been caused by a ship dragging a large anchor along the seabed, but it was too early to tell if this was an accident or a deliberate act, Finnish police said on Tuesday.
Broad drag marks were seen on the seabed leading up to where the pipeline was broken, and the anchor was lying immediately after the damage spot.
“The next questions are about whether it was intentional, negligence, poor seamanship, and that’s where we get into whether there could be a motive for what’s going on,” National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) chief Robin Lardot told a press conference.
The NBI on Friday said they were focusing their probe on the Chinese NewNew Polar Bear container vessel that had travelled above the pipeline and the cables at the time of the damage.
The NBI on Tuesday said they had established that the NewNew Polar Bear was in fact missing one of its front anchors, and said they had tried unsuccessfully to contact the ship to ask whether this was the one retrieved in the Gulf of Finland.
In September 2022, the larger Nord Stream pipelines connecting Germany and Russia were damaged by explosions that authorities have said were deliberate acts of sabotage, although it is still unclear who was behind the attack.
The original article contains 399 words, the summary contains 231 words. Saved 42%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!