Damage was discovered on the Balticconnector pipeline on Sunday. Now investigations have shown that it was probably sabotage.
According to Helsinki, damage to the pipeline transporting gas from Estonia to Finland was likely caused by “external influences”. “It is likely that the damage to both the gas pipeline and the telecommunications cable is the result of external influences,” Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said on Tuesday. The pipeline carries gas from Estonia to Finland and was closed on Sunday due to a pressure drop.
According to unconfirmed Finnish media reports, this could be due to a leak. According to information from Yle radio, it must not have been an accident. The newspaper “Iltalehti” even reported that the government and the military suspected that Russia had attacked the line. Nothing was initially confirmed by the government, but the Finnish government called a press conference at short notice for Tuesday.
Gas transport between Estonia and Finland has been stopped
The operating companies of Balticconnector, Finland’s Gasgrid and Estonia’s Elering, noticed a sudden drop in pressure in the gas pipeline on Sunday morning. Gas transport between the two EU countries was then stopped. The operators announced investigations. According to reports, the military and secret services were also involved in the investigation.
“Due to the unusual pressure drop, it is reasonable to suspect that the cause of the incident was damage to the offshore gas pipeline and the resulting leak,” Gasgrid said on Tuesday. The gas leak was stopped by insulating the section.
The Balticconnector went into operation at the beginning of 2020. The approximately 150 kilometer long pipeline runs from Inkoo, Finland, across the Gulf of Finland, to Paldiski, Estonia; the affected maritime section is a good 77 kilometers long. It is significantly shorter than the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which were seriously damaged in acts of sabotage near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea about a year ago. It remains unclear who was behind the Nord Stream attacks. According to media research, the traces led to Ukraine. (APA/ed.)