PREFACE/ISSUE
Danish Maritime Authority allows construction of Nordtsream 2 AG pipelines section in Danish TZ:
II. Law forbids anchoring nearby pipelines, criminal liability for damages
Pursuant to Section 5(4) and Section 6(3) of the Act on Safety of Navigation, cf. Consolidated Act no. 587 of 29 September 1988, and by authority given in Order no. 570 of 26 September 1988, the following provisions are laid down after consultation with the Danish Ministry of Defence and the Danish Ministry of Transport, cf. Act no. 54 of 15 February 1895 on the protection of submarine cables and submarine pipelines, as amended by Act no. 134 of 10 May 1915, Act no. 151 of 10 May 1967 and Act no. 480 of 8 November 1972:
Section 1. Ships may not, without urgent necessity, anchor in the cable and pipeline fields laid down for submarine cables and submarine pipelines of any type (pipelines for the carriage of hydrocarbons, etc.), which cover the associated protective zones, cf. Section 4.
[M: the protection zone is 200m around cables, pipelines]
Annex Submarine cables and submarine pipelines
1 General
"Persons who cause damage to pipelines shall be criminally liableIII. Russia was scanning for anchor marks shortly after
27 Oct 2022 - Erik Andersson: This Sunday afternoon Oct 3 Russian ship Nefrit..
..scans an area about 1km wide with the Nordstream 1 rupture in the middle. (screenshot from Marine Traffic web site)
The Russian unit does not need to apply for permission from Stockholm to conduct its own operations.The pipeline operator, Nord Stream AG, said in a statement that the vessel would begin surveying the pipeline damage area within 24 hours. He will spend three to five days there.
[M: Could recent anchor marks be still visible to very sensitive equipment? Would it find divers equipment? What is search diameter?]
IV. Russian A2AD (Anti access Area Denial system)
Anti-Access Area Denial systems and radars from RU enclave can see much. They can see very much what is on the surface and could send there in a no time a plane to have a look would a suspicious boat spend too long time over its pipelines.
Additionally this post explores that submarine or minisubmarine was the delivery system which brought the divers and explosives to the site:
Whose submarine visited Bornholm Deep before the Nordstream was blown up?
V. The importance of Exclusive Economic Zone Teritorial Zones (TZ)
According to UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), coastal states have sovereign rights over their EEZs, which includes the exclusive right to authorize, regulate and control any activities related to the exploration, exploitation, conservation, and management of the natural resources within their EEZs.
The Big picture of whole Baltic Sea (EEZs)
Therefore, any investigation within the EEZ must be carried out with the consent and cooperation of state which owns the EEZ. Failure to seek consent may result in a violation of state B's sovereignty and may be considered a breach of international law.
VI. The location is everything
Danish EEZ, Swedish EEZ but not in Danish TZ.
[M: Note the closeness to the bubble around Bornholm = Danish TZ.]
VII. Russia can not patrol Nordstream in Territorial waters
The free passage law allows ships to pass freely but forbids military vessels to conduct naval operations. This includes anti submarine search.
VIII. Russians monitoring its assets in Danish Territorial waters
1 May 2022 - Denmark, Sweden summon Russian ambassadors over spy plane flight
Authorities from both Denmark and Sweden reported that the Russian plane entered Danish airspace on Friday evening east of the Danish Baltic island of Bornholm then entered Swedish airspace.
16 June 2022 - Russian Ambassador Summoned Following Violation of Danish Airspace: “Inacceptable breach”
The summons is a reaction to Russia’s violation of Danish airspace on 11 June between 11:08 a.m. and 11:42 a.m., during which time two Russian SU-30 fighter planes were observed over Danish airspace near Christiansø Island and Bornholm Island.
17 June 2022 - Russian warship violated Danish territorial waters in Baltic, Danish military says
[M: Note that some ASW search action was also done by US helicopters. Was this the reason why USA warned the Germany and allies about the strategic threat and possibility of future attacks against pipelines?]
1 Sept 2022 - Russian Ambassador Summoned To Denmark After Alleged Airspace Violation
IX. Seems USA was also monitoring pipeline locations
5 - 17 June 2022 - BALTOPS 22 KICKS OFF IN THE BALTIC SEA
June 8 2022, the Boeing P-8A simply switched off its call sign, several rounds over the NS blast site.
1,2,3 Sept 2022 - US Military Helicopters Circled Around Future Nord Stream Leaks For Hours In September
[M: Again those helicopters from Kaersarge group seem to be searching for something under. Note info on the post 1-3/09/2022 here] [M: Note that helicopters are excellent for ASW,
Anti-Submarine-Warfare, they stay at place,
they can drop sonar or sonar-buoy and transmit data][M: Looks like a chase but there was no boat there][M: Again, ASW capability.
Helicopters are better than planes due to lower speed for anti-sub warfare]FlightRadar shows a few flights there on that day[M: There were several flight and several investigations, was this just a drill?]
[M: The post of the blogger is interesting. How so no Russian sub was announced?US was conducting anti-submarine mission which has not been a drill.][Could it be that a UK submarine was discovered here?]
It is curious that on September 2, almost in parallel with the US military, a military helicopter NH90 of the Dutch Navy was flying in the vicinity of Bornholm Island, probably observing the activities of the Americans....
US helicopters, according to Flightradar24, also flew over the branches of Russian gas pipelines on September 10 and September 19.
[Could it be that a UK submarine was tracked and followed here?]
In all cases, the trajectories of the US military speak of observation flights or loitering with other targets over a specific section of the water area. Helicopters that made sorties on the night of September 22-23 and 25-26 have especially confusing tracks.
[M: Perhaps there was a UK submarine in the vicinity and US Navy from Kaersarge was tracking its movements. This kind of excludes that it was a secret approved NATO operation, looks more like UK went rogue and USA has been on it, knew, monitored yet has not stopped it or did not understand intentions of the submarine - speculating on another post with How it maybe went - so far sequence is in few posts on twitter. Btw, the path looks like the helicopter dropped sonarbuoys, then cycles to transmit its data to Kaersarge].
2 Sept 2022 - helicopter call sign FFAB123 MH-60S from USS Kearsarge flew either along the route of Nord Stream-2 or generally between the points where the accident occurred.
X. The knowledge about laws covering subsea cables and pipelines
Rishi Sunak is most likely the only high government official who had a deep knowledge about implications of critical infrastructure in EEZs.
Rishi Sunak´s 2017 report about vulnerability of subsea internet cables
The Definition, Severity and Accountability of the Nordstream Affair
XI. The Bornholm Deep is ideal for submarine operations
These posts explore the submarine/mini-submarine approach:
20 points about UK submarines, DDS, SWCS, MK11, deep divers, DTXG team
Conclusion:
- Big ships would be seen on radara.
- Small ships would leave anchor trace
- Submarines could hide in Danish Territorial zone lowering risk of being exposed by Russians or allies. TZ offers protection
- Bornholm Deep basin is ideal for submarine operations
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