EADaily's latest Nord Stream 2 report says that the Estonian Navy's mine-clearing ship on its journey in the Baltic Sea stopped near the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Accordingly, on May 27, the EML Sakala of the Estonian Navy left the island of Gotland (Sweden) for the island of Bornholm (denmark) in the Baltic Sea. The ship moved eastward, along the continental border, went a short distance and then stopped.
According to AIS maritime positioning data, the Estonian Navy's mine carrier is currently anchored about 8 km from the site of a branch of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that exploded on September 26, 2022.
The Danish Maritime Administration has not yet reopened this area for anchoring, fishing or seabed activities.
The EML Sakala is even closer to the intact branch of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, just 3.2 km away. The pipeline runs along the Danish administrative border near Bornholm Island.
It is not yet clear what purpose the Estonian mine sweeping ship was conducting to Nord Stream 2. NATO has also not announced any ongoing drills in the Baltic Sea.
However, the area where the ship was anchored was once noted as a landfill area for chemical weapons from World War II and the gas pipeline connecting Russia and Germany passing through the area.
Western media previously cited the results of German investigations into the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipeline explosions, in which it was believed that a group of Ukrainian sabotage was behind the incident.
Meanwhile, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh has published an independent investigation accusing the US of being involved in the Nord Stream sabotage.
According to him, Washington has organized a campaign to destroy the Nord Stream pipeline. During the NATO summer drill, explosives were planted in the gas pipelines and then detonated with radio signals from the plane.
Of the two branches of Nord Stream 2, there is still one un damaged branch that can operate at a capacity of more than 27 billion cubic meters of gas/year.
Some Western sources said that the US and Russia have negotiated the possibility of Washington participating in the Nord Stream 2 revival project.
However, to put the remaining branch of this pipeline into operation, it is necessary to complete the procedures for granting an operating license. The licensing process was suspended by Germany in 2022 after the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out. The resumption of this process depends on the political decision from Berlin.
Last week, the Financial Times reported that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was trying to stop any discussion about the future of Nord Stream, and supported the European Union (EU) sanctions against the pipeline.
The EU is still against gas pipeline projects across the Baltic Sea, which has left the possibility of resuming Russian gas flows almost off the agenda.
