Due to safety concerns following the alleged sabotage of two Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany last month, Norway has sent a specialised vessel to investigate an undersea gas pipeline to Germany.
Norway, the biggest gas supplier to Europe, put its energy industry on high alert last week following the Nord Stream blasts on September 26 by sending its navy and air force to patrol offshore infrastructure and stationing soldiers at onshore gas processing sites.
Refinitiv vessel-tracking data reveals that on October 5, an oil service vessel called the Havila Subsea, which is outfitted with remotely operated subsea vehicles, was sent out to inspect the Europipe II pipeline, which connects the Kaarstoe gas plant in Norway to Dornum in Germany.
Jostein Alendal, chief executive of Reach Subsea, which operates Havila Subsea, told Reuters the inspection was ordered by Equinor, which carries out pipeline inspections on behalf of offshore gas system operator Gassco.
“For security considerations, we cannot go into detail about specific measures,” a Gassco spokesperson said in an email.
Equinor said in an emailed statement to Reuters that “the security level has been raised for installations and infrastructure on the NCS (Norwegian Continental Shelf)” and that precautionary measures have been taken relating to the pipeline network.
The company said it did not want to provide further detail because of security considerations. It added, however, that it does carry out pipeline surveys on behalf of Gassco.
Norway’s military declined to comment on offshore pipeline surveys or other specific offshore security measures.
“Knowledge about these measures makes it easier for an actor to avoid them,” a military spokesperson said in an email.
Europipe II is possibly the most important Norwegian pipeline, said Tor Ivar Stroemmen, a senior lecturer at the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy.
“A major interruption of the flow of gas to Germany could cause political pressures changing the dynamics of the ongoing stand-off with Russia,” Stroemmen said.
An industry source told Reuters that Norway is inspecting critical oil and gas infrastructure, including pipelines, for possible explosives or sabotage attempts.
Germany, Europe’s largest economy, relied heavily on Russian gas supplies from Russia until supplies were cut after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The 658km Europipe II has capacity of 71 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas per day, about a fifth of Norway’s total pipeline exports.
Sweden’s Security Service said on Thursday that a crime scene investigation of the two pipelines has strengthened suspicions of “gross sabotage” involving detonations.