On Sept. 26 2022, an attack to the Nord Stream ruptured three of the four pipelines and created the largest manmade release of methane in history. According to the Washington Post, the mystery of the attack is under investigation, but there are few clues to the identity of the perpetrator and the case may never be solved. Several NATO member states quickly hinted (or stated) that they believed Russia to be the culprit, despite the Russian government being the majority owner of the pipeline and the gas inside it. According to the investigators, the incident was clearly an intentional attack, and almost certainly required nation-state capabilities to carry out. Germany, Sweden and Denmark all have open investigations running but so far, they have come up with little to tie the incident to Russia or any other party. Given the international situation, Russia was not allowed to join the inquiry run by European investigators: the Kremlin has denounced the process and blamed the attack on its Western opponents, particularly Britain. As for the pipelines, no decision has yet been made on whether to undertake any repairs: both parallel systems had already been shut down for political reasons before the attack, and few expect energy ties between Russia and Europe to resume at previous levels. Read more on Maritime-executive.com
