A German magazine identifies the ship wanted in connection with the explosions of the Nord Stream gas pipeline
A leak in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline causes gas to bubble up on the surface of the Baltic Sea on September 28, 2022, in a photo provided by the Swedish Coast Guard. (Photo: Handout/Swedish Coast Guard/Getty Images)
German magazine Der Spiegel has identified the ship that was searched by authorities in connection with the explosions that knocked out the Nordstream gas pipeline in September.
The sailing ship “Andromeda” was registered in January, according to Der Spiegel. The German attorney general’s office said last week that it had searched an unnamed ship earlier that month.
Der Spiegel claims that the “Andromeda” was the vessel in which an unidentified six-man crew allegedly sailed to the blast zone in the Baltic Sea.
According to nautical websites vesselfinder.com y marinetraffic.comthe “Andromeda” has a German flag and is 13 meters long and 4 meters wide.
CNN has contacted the company that rents the “Andromeda” but has not received any comment.
Last Friday, a German government spokesman was asked about the “Andromeda” but referred any questions to the German attorney general’s office.
The investigation into the explosions, which hit Russian pipelines supplying gas to Europe, has also reached Denmark.
Søren Thiim Andersen, a local official on the island of Christiansø, told CNN that investigators had searched the online booking system for his mooring in the port.
They also asked him to post on a local Facebook page an appeal for photos of ships that had visited the island between September 16 and 18 of last year.
“In December, the Danish police contacted us to ask if we had any information about the ships that had been in the port of Christiansø,” he explained.
“I don’t know if the police found what they were looking for on the island,” he said.
Christiansø is 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of the Danish island of Bornholm, close to where the explosions took place.
A bit of context: Mystery has surrounded those possibly responsible for the brazen sabotage last September, which damaged two pipelines transporting Russian gas to the European Union and affected a crucial source of income for Moscow. Both pipelines were closed at the time of the attack.
A New York Times report cited new intelligence that a “pro-Ukrainian group” may have been behind the attack. Ukraine has denied any involvement.