Gasgrid Finland and Elering detect “unusual” leak in Finland-Estonia offshore pipeline in Baltic Sea

10/16/2023 / By Laura Harris

Gasgrid Finland and Elering, the Finnish and Estonian gas system operators, detected an “unusual” leak in the 77-kilometer (48-mile) pipeline between Finland and Estonia on October 8.

“Based on observations, it was suspected that the offshore pipeline between Finland and Estonia was leaking. The valves in the offshore pipeline are now closed and the leak is thus stopped,” Gasgrid Finland and Elering said in a joint statement.

According to ERR News, the Estonian Navy and the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service are investigating the issue, focusing on the premise of sabotage.

The affected underwater pipeline has caused several damages. For instance, Finland now needs to rely completely on its floating LNG terminals for gas supply, while Estonia has to get gas through the Latvia pipeline.

Natural gas prices in the U.S. and European Union (EU) also increased after the alleged sabotage. However, the EU has more natural gas stored than usual for 2023. Additionally, the Energy Information Administration shows that the U.S. exported more liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the first half of the year than any other country, with a significant portion going to Europe.

Therefore, the U.S. energy and industry businesses, along with the US government in Washington, benefit the most from the suspected sabotage.

Nord Stream 2.0?

This recent Finland-Estonia undersea pipeline sabotage bears eerie similarities to last year’s Nord Stream pipeline sabotage. Nord Stream refers to the network of offshore natural gas pipelines that run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany to provide Western Europe with natural gas. (Related: Why Hersh’s Nord Stream bombshell may become legal nightmare for team Biden & its Nordic allies.)

In early 2023, Hersh Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, known for his decades of investigative reporting with publications like the New York Times and the New Yorker, published an exposé on his Substack titled, “How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline.”

According to Hersh, the U.S. sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines in a series of underwater attacks in 2022 under the guise of the BALTOPS 22 NATO exercise. A Norwegian Navy P8 surveillance plane dropped a sonar buoy to destroy three of the four Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipelines. Pools of methane gas left irreversible damage to the pipelines.

He cited unnamed national security sources and detailed discussions of the White House, CIA and Pentagon in December 2021. Additionally, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan formed a special task force under his supervision. But the final order to proceed with the sabotage came directly from the office of President Joe Biden.

Moreover, some sources claimed that the attack was due to the potential reliance of Germany on Russian gas, which may eventually result in geopolitical shifts.

In both cases, the sabotage could mess up the delivery of natural gas to European countries. Furthermore, the Western media could point their fingers again at Russia just like what happened last year.

Visit Pipelines.news for more stories about oil pipelines being sabotaged.

Watch the video below that talks about UN Security Council voting on an inquiry into Joe Biden’s pipeline sabotage.

This video is from the SecureLife channel on Brighteon.com.