The Gazprom find in 2015: Suspected NATO bomb at Nord stream
Foreign

11 October 2022

at 16.48

Nord Stream found one of the military alliance NATO's explosive devices next to the Nord Stream gas pipeline in autumn 2015. The gas company reminds this in a statement.

It was in connection with an inspection of Nord Stream in the Baltic Sea on the morning of November 6, 2015 that a foreign object was discovered next to the gas pipeline. The find was made in the Swedish economic zone, outside Gotland, and it was quickly suspected that the object was some form of ammunition or explosive device.

Nord Stream turned to the Swedish Armed Forces for help. Six days later , the Swedish Armed Forces announced that the foreign object had been rendered harmless.

Image from the Armed Forces' mission in November 2015. Photo: The Armed Forces
Underwater drone
There were early suspicions that the object was a so-called Seafox – an underwater drone developed by the German company Atlas elektronik.

- The model is similar to the system that Sweden uses for mine clearance, which is called Atlas Seafox and can carry an explosive charge of 1.5 kilos, commented Navy Captain Jesper Stolpe at the Naval Tactical Staff in connection with the discovery.

READ ALSO: Prosecutor: Detonations at Nord stream 1 and 2

Seafox is used by Germany, the USA and several other NATO countries. It is also used by, among others, the Swedish and Finnish navies.

The drone's main task is to search for and detonate mines under the sea surface.

Photo: Gazprom
Photo: Gazprom
Image: Atlas electronics
Reminds of the bargain
Now Gazprom, Nord Stream's main owner, recalls the find on the seabed seven years ago. Reuters draws attention to this.

The Russian oil and gas company's spokesman Sergey Kuprijanov tells Russian television that he thinks it is "necessary to remind" of the incident in 2015. Gazprom was then forced to shut off the gas while the Swedish navy took care of the object.

READ MORE: The coast guard can intervene against Nord stream invaders

NATO is reported to have said that they lost the underwater drone in the Baltic Sea in connection with an exercise. However, Kuprijanov finds it strange that the military alliance managed to lose it right there, next to the gas pipelines.

- There are those NATO exercises where an explosive device just happens to end up right under our gas pipeline, says the spokesman sarcastically.

https://samnytt.se/gazprom-fyn....det-2015-misstankt-n