According to energy supplier Amber Grid, a huge explosion occurred this evening, Friday, January 13, on the gas pipeline that links Latvia and Lithuania. Andersson jokingly calls this section of the pipeline the holy grail of his investigation because it is the only section of the three strands of the Nord Stream pipeline that was bombed but did not cause a massive gas rupture. the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: by Justin Jackson , Phys.org. The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs. The explosion and pipe rupture resulted in the resuspension of 250,000 metric tons of this heavily contaminated sediment. In 2016, he left Boeing and retired, though he continues to work on a variety of projects, including a teak wood harvesting plantation on a rainforest he manages in Brazil. There were four separate dives, but there was simplified logistics. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the worlds largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. That is a perfect disguise. We took some sediment samples at the place where the bomb exploded on a depressurized pipeline, he said. I think there were just four. All of this in turn could make it more plausible that a small team of divers could have pulled off the operation and not necessarily one sponsored or deployed by a major nation state like the U.S. or Russia. According to the initial assessment, we do not see any malign cause but the investigation will cover all possible options, Amber Grid chief executive Nemunas Biknius told a news conference. The paper described a plot similar to one now being considered by German investigators: six men using false identities sailed a small boat into the Baltic Sea and, using diving equipment including. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he now works in the private sector and is not authorized to speak to the media. He began tinkering around with MarineTraffic, a service for monitoring the movement of ships and vessels and began reviewing all the data from the Baltic Sea to search for corroboration of various aspects of Hershs report. Khler, who was aware of Anderssons expedition, declined to comment. "Lithuanian gas pipeline hit by large explosion", "Dujotiekio sprogimas Pasvalio rajone: ugnis lokalizuota, gyventojai raginami usidaryti langus ir likti namuose", "Aikja sprogimo Pasvalio rajone detals: gyventojams duj tiekimas nesutriks, teigia, kad piktybinio poveikio dujotiekiui nemato", "Lietuv netlu no Latvijas eksplodjis gzes vads; remonts var aizemt nedas (plkst. On his expedition, Andersson filmed the aftermath of the destruction caused by the first bomb of the sabotage action, the one that blew up Line A of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline at 2:03 a.m. About 70 kilometers northeast of that blast site, Andersson shot video of a puncture wound he believes was caused by a second bomb on that line. The journey took less than a second. He eventually helped assemble an informal online war room with a handful of other amateur sleuths, and they publicly and privately compared notes and built on one anothers research. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Privacy Policy Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. Its sloppily put there. Original reporting. Two weeks after Anderssons expedition, the Washington Post reported that the U.S. had intelligence three months before the attack that the Ukrainian military was planning an operation to sabotage the Nord Stream 1 pipeline using a small team of six divers. Its not professionally applied to surgically cut a hole in the pipeline or anything like that. In this aerial view, the Andromeda, a 50-foot Bavaria 50 Cruiser recreational sailing yacht, stands in a dry dock on the headland of Bug on Rgen island on March 17, 2023, near Dranske, Germany. It wasnt like a big thing when it happened, he recalls. Noting that the Baltic Sea is heavily surveilled, he said that using such equipment capable of planting bombs would have drawn far more attention and potentially necessitated a much larger vessel than a sailboat. He also wanted the ability to take sediment samples from the seabed, so he improvised a valve that looked like a high school science project. Its like in a mud cloud, he said. Deformation of the pipe at a welded junction to the point of failuredoesnt require a cutting charge, in my opinion. The pipeline contains details of contracts expected to be re-procured and new procurement projects that are expected to be undertaken both within the next 3 years. They knew about the seam. The day after the blasts, Poland cut the ribbon on a new pipeline that was established as a direct competitor to the Moscow-led initiative. Several leading researchers working to document the seismic activity caused by the Nord Stream blasts engaged in extended email exchanges with him, and some thanked Andersson for his insights and for pointing out discrepancies or errors in their data presentations. VILNIUS, Jan 13 (Reuters) - A gas pipeline connecting Lithuania and Latvia was hit by an explosion on Friday but there was no immediate evidence of an attack, Lithuania gas transmission operator Amber Grid said. The fire was put out, the Lithuania pipeline grid operator's chief executive said. Andersson refuses to accept that the U.S. and its allies do not know exactly what happened last September 26, and he questions the motives behind their secrecy. Reuters September 9, 202210:04 AM PDTUpdated 10 months ago Sept 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday that it was responding to a natural gas pipeline explosion at Lake Lery,. This would not exonerate any particular suspect, but it does suggest a wider circle of actors, nation states, or private groups could have pulled it off. Andersson believes the saboteurs experienced magnetic interference with their compasses when trying to place a bomb on Line B and accidentally rigged a second bomb to the A line, which was just 50 meters away. Its not like walking in the forest. Neither story directly accused the Ukrainian government of involvement. When you talk to Andersson or look at his social media feeds, you quickly encounter two major strands of his personality. With a shaped charge, we would see markers, cuts, the impact of the charge, he said. The size of the bomb cannot be determined by the seismic data currently available.. Russian ships able to perform underwater operations were present near to where explosions later took place on the Nord Stream pipelines, according to an investigative documentary. Aboard the Baltic Explorer, Erik Andersson and his daughter Agnes monitor the video feed from an underwater drone over Line A of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline on May 24, 2023. An "extraordinary" explosion has taken place in a court in Kyiv, according to officials. It never hurts to double check.. The Supreme Court's landmark decision shooting down affirmative action could hurt the college-to-career pipeline many companies lean on to diversify their ranks. The lawsuits one filed in March by the owners of 283 . Records of 39 samples taken 20 km from the explosion site contain measurable chemical weapon agents, both arsenic and mustard gas related. Ex-Royal Navy spy exposes Russian 'ghost ships' circling near site of pipeline explosion The US, Britain, Norway, Ukraine and Russia have all been blamed for the attack on the Nord Stream 1 and. 20.45)", "Pasvalio rajone sprogo dujotiekis: plipteljo apie 50 metr aukio liepsna", "Lithuania-Latvia gas pipeline blows up, but no sign of attack", "Po duj vamzdio sprogimo Pasvalio rajone u 800 metr esanio pastato sienos kaito iki virimo temperatros", "Suvaldius dujotiekio avarij Pasvalio rajone, pavojaus nebra", "Suremontavus dujotiek Pasvalio rajone, visikai atkurti duj tiekimo pajgumai Latvij", "Amber Grid: Suremontavus dujotiek Pasvalio rajone, visikai atkurti duj tiekimo pajgumai Latvij", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2023_LithuaniaLatvia_pipeline_explosion&oldid=1148470311, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0, This page was last edited on 6 April 2023, at 10:28. Russia, the United States, and any number of otherstate or independent actors have the infrastructure and ability to have carried this off at a reasonable cost, said a former U.S. Navy underwater demolition specialist who reviewed Erik Anderssons footage and other images. Incidents This is not a complete list of all pipeline accidents. On September 26, 2022, when a series of explosions rocked the Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea waters off the coasts of Sweden and Denmark, Andersson followed the news like everyone else. Both are possible, but it would have been a very sophisticated and very expensive robotic, he told our reporting parter Die Zeit. But an official from Nord Stream 2 AG, the company that owns the pipeline, said that line is functional and remains filled with gas, though the company intentionally reduced its pressure to half the level it functioned at prior to the blasts. Andersson tweeted some criticism of the government investigations of the incident, mostly focused on the lack of transparency. . He was able to film it because the line had depressurized after the initial blast, so it did not break the pipeline apart, and the hole from the bomb remained intact. But there is another aspect to Andersson that would seem to contradict his scientific disposition, and that is his enthusiasm for a mishmash of fringe theories about Covid-19, the 2020 presidential election in the U.S., and other dubious narratives popular in MAGA world. Andersson suspects that the saboteurs encountered magnetic anomalies on their compasses when they were under water causing them to accidentally place two bombs on Line A of Nord Stream 2. This site uses cookies to assist with navigation, analyse your use of our services, collect data for ads personalisation and provide content from third parties. except in 2008 when the agency sought a $3.4 million fine against El Paso Corp. in connection with a 2006 fatal explosion on a pipeline in Wyoming. And this site is the only site I think now where we have any hope to see that because all the other sites, there had been this enormous outflow of gas: natural gas thats just blown away all the mud and all the traces that were of the original explosion, Andersson explained. Posted Thu 6 Apr 2023 at 7:41am Thursday 6 Apr 2023 at 7:41am Thu 6 Apr 2023 at 7:41am, . Santos confirms January pipeline explosion - Offshore Technology He filmed the damage from the explosions and the sites where sections of pipelines ruptured. The pipeline is refreshed annually. Contact: +37068274006. [7], At 16:57, Police department of Pasvalys District received the call about the fire in Pasvalio Vienkiemiai village after a locals heard a loud noise. Perhaps it was his fascination with such counter-narratives that led him to believe so fervently in Hershs account of the Nord Stream bombing. List of pipeline accidents in the United States in 2023 The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. Of all the flunkies Gov. The former German military diver agreed that such compass interference can happen, including near pipelines like the Nord Stream, but he said professional divers should know how to calibrate them and adjust to such anomalies. [5], According to the Amber Grid Chief Executive, they do not have evidence that the explosion was an attack, however said that it will be investigated. For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines). Lithuania gas pipeline explosion most likely caused by technical [5] 18km of pipeline was disconnected from the main grid to allow gas to burn out. That hole is just 50 meters away from the other strand of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the one closest to Russia. The Video of a Gas Pipeline Explosion Was Not Filmed in Jerusalem Ukraine directly accused Vladimir Putin of responsibility. He also watched countless interviews Hersh did about his story, hanging on to every new detail that had not been in his original article, including an assertion that some of the bombs planted by the saboteurs did not detonate, leading to a scramble by the U.S. to remove the evidence. Andersson also believes that his footage indicates that only one bomb was intended for each line, not two as Hersh has at times suggested. 6/9/2023, 10:23:37 PM. Its very loose, but you need to dig a little bit. [4] Flames reached up to 50 m in height and could be seen at a distance of at least 17 km. WASHINGTON Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh has alleged US Navy divers laid bombs that destroyed the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea last September,. What we want to see is really the primary impact of the explosives. February, 09, 2023 - 11:42 World news TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh has alleged that US Navy divers laid bombs that destroyed the Nord Stream 2 natural gas. Though it was not his aim, Anderssons research directly challenges Hershs details, as well as the narrative preferred by analysts who believe Russia carried out the bombing. He engages in lengthy and detailed email exchanges and conversations with scientists and government officials in Sweden and elsewhere. Totally false, says Peter Andersson, an executive at Poseidon Diving Systems, a Swedish company that provides advanced diving equipment to militaries around the globe, including the U.S., Germany, and Sweden. I think its a healthy thinking process to create narratives and then look for confirmation as long as you are aware thats what you are doing, and youre ready to say you were wrong if the evidence says so, he argues. Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights. 7 employees were injured. U.S. knew about Ukrainian plot to bomb Nord Stream pipeline months Battlefield videos capture a tank explosion so massive it's likely it was one of Russia's new rolling bombs. He used plastic cylinders and bicycle inner tubes to collect samples that might contain traces of explosives. You dont need a diver to put anything in the sediment. It is possiblethat they accidentally blew up the A-string of Nord Stream 2 twice.. What he found was quite different. I think it would be very difficult to place the bomb under the seams with a remote-operated vehicle and do the variety of tasks of digging a hole and putting it in in there. If the gas discharge is large enough, it can alter the hydroacoustic and seismic waves that are generated., Andersson said the image painted by Hersh of a state of alarm among planners of the U.S. operation when one of the bombs did not explode was, to him, one of the most interesting parts of the story. Andersson saw video clips circulating on Twitter that showed Biden and other U.S. officials appearing to threaten to take out the pipeline in the months before the attacks. 18 th Pipeline Technology Conference (ptc 2023) Date: 8 - 11 May 2023; ptc Seminars: 8 May 2023; ptc Conference & ptc Exhibition: 9-11 May 2023; Venue: Estrel Congress Center, Berlin, Germany; 19 th Pipeline Technology Conference (ptc 2024) Date: 8 - 11 April 2024; 20 th Pipeline Technology Conference (ptc 2025)