German investigators are saying a six-member crew may have been behind the Nord Stream pipeline explosion (Image: Reuters)
German investigators searched a boat in January and found traces of explosives on board. They say six crew members may have been behind the explosions.
German authorities probing last year’s Nord Stream natural-gas pipeline explosion have identified a boat manned by a six-member crew and said they may have been involved in the operation. wall street journal Reported citing people familiar with the developments.
German authorities investigating the blasts said six people had chartered a sport sailing boat in northern Germany before the blasts, and that some of the six people presented Ukrainian passports as identification.
wall street journal Said the boat first docked in the port of Wiek, which is located on the German island of Rügen and later on the Danish island of Christiano, which is 18 km northeast of the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm.
The pipelines were located not far from the island of Bornholm.
Danish authorities are also investigating the nature of the blasts. “Police were looking for a specific boat that stopped here in September,” Soren Thiem Andersen, Cristiano Island’s top official, told Reuters.
However, Ukrainian officials denied involvement in the blasts.
The report was compiled by the Federal Criminal Office, or BKA. It is the German equivalent of the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). They are conducting the investigation on behalf of German federal prosecutors.
german weekly Time reported some details of the boat and its crew earlier this week.
Reports surfaced shortly after new York Times Reported that pro-Ukrainian groups were responsible for the blasts.
Well-known investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said that the US, with the help of Norway, masterminded the attacks in February.
That claim was also denied by officials in Kiev who said they were not involved in the blasts.
Another group of Western officials familiar with the development told wall street journal that the photo is “too vague” to point in any direction. He also said that Ukraine’s involvement in the attack may have been deliberately planted by the saboteurs to cover their tracks.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Wednesday warned people against jumping to conclusions about the identities of the crew members and supporting them.
Pistorius said he may have ties to Ukraine but it could also be a Russian campaign designed to blame Kiev.
German federal prosecutors had earlier in January searched a ship in connection with the Nord Stream explosions and suspected it could be used to transport explosives.
Although investigators are yet to identify those involved in the attack, they say more than one group may have been involved.
German investigators report that they found no evidence of a crew planting the explosives, which severely damaged the pipelines, and that the scale of the operation indicated that more than six people were involved.
Reports said at least 500 kg of explosives were used in the blasts. They also said that TNT may have been used to damage the pipelines as they found residue at the blast site. They now think that traces of TNT may have come from detonated bombs or exposure to bomb-like explosives that are commonly found on the ocean floor in those areas.
Investigators also said that Semtex may have been used to set off the underwater explosion. However, this was an estimate and has not been made a part of the report. Traces of explosives were also found on the boat but officials are unclear what kind.
read all Breaking News Here