The tanker Minerva Julie, which sails under the flag of Greece, cruised over the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines from 6 to 12 September. His movements may be related to the explosions on the pipelines that occurred on September 26th.
Source: Business Insider edition
Details: Danish analyst Oliver Alexander drew attention to the strange routes of the tanker, who analyzed data from the Maritime Automatic Identification System (AIS) from ships that passed near the site of three of the four pipelines shortly before the damage, the newspaper writes.
The analyst determined that the 600-foot tanker Minerva Julie was heading east from Rotterdam, but on September 6, she suddenly stopped in the middle of the Baltic Sea for almost a week. After sailing over the Nord Streams for six days, the tanker headed for Tallinn, and from there sailed to St. Petersburg, where it moored on 18 September.
The owners of the tanker explained the strange delay to the publication by the fact that the ship was waiting for instructions on a further route.
Even if the tanker was not involved in the pipeline explosions, the crew’s testimony could provide valuable clues to investigators, Business Insider said.
What preceded this:
- On September 26, 2022, as a result of explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines near the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, four sections of gas pipelines in the exclusive economic zones of Denmark and Sweden began to leak.
- On March 7, in a number of foreign media, in particular, in German and in the American The New York Times, there were reports about the alleged involvement of “pro-Ukrainian groups” in the incident.
- President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied any involvement of Ukraine in the explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. He suggests that this information is being spread to slow down aid to Ukraine.
