The Swedish judicial authorities said that they had ordered the closure of the area where the leakage occurred in the pipelines of the two "Nord Stream" pipelines transporting Russian gas to Europe to investigate the possibility of sabotage, while the Norwegian authorities said that they had detected unidentified flights of drones near gas fields in the North Sea.
Swedish Public Prosecutor Mats Jungqvist said on Tuesday that he was aware of the public's interest in the issue of the Nord Stream gas pipeline leak, but would not go into the details of the preliminary judicial investigations currently taking place.
The Swedish Coast Guard stated that commercial vessels, divers, fishing vessels and diving vehicles are prohibited from approaching 9.3 kilometers (5.8 nautical miles) from the site of the leaks in the Nord Stream pipelines, which are located in the Swedish exclusive economic zone.
And the explosions that occurred last week under the sea, led to damage to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, in four regions in southern Sweden and on the coast of Denmark, which led to the leakage of large quantities of gas into international waters in the Baltic Sea.
No suspect until now
Swedish intelligence said that the initial investigations into the leak were "confidential and there is no timetable for presenting its results", adding that there are still no suspects in the leak.
The Swedish and Danish authorities had announced that a group of ships had been sent to the places of the gas leak, to begin preliminary investigations.
A statement issued by the Swedish Coast Guard - yesterday - Tuesday - said that one of the two leaks in the Nord Stream pipeline is still visible on the surface of the water in an area with a diameter of about 20 meters.
The Coast Guard said the largest leak had not surfaced since Monday morning.
On the other hand, the Russian company Gazprom said that the leakage of gas from 3 damaged parts of the two Nord Stream pipelines under the waters of the Baltic Sea has stopped.
The statement said that the pressure has stabilized in 3 of the 4 branches of the two lines, and they are working to reduce environmental risks.
Gazprom said that if a decision is made to start deliveries via Line B from Nord Stream 2, natural gas will be pumped into the line after the supervisory authorities verify the integrity of the system.
Nord Stream pipelines cross the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, and pass the seabed in international waters.
Unidentified flights in Norway
In a related context, the Danish police said on Tuesday that it had received reports of unauthorized flights of drones near gas fields in the North Sea.
According to the specialized "Danish Offshore Sector" bulletin, marches were observed near the Rohr field, located more than 200 km off the west coast of Denmark, which is operated by the French energy group "Total Energy".
This is the second time such incidents have been reported within a week.
Norwegian police also said that they installed monitoring systems for floating gas and oil rigs in the Baltic Sea, after the leak that was recorded in two Nord Stream pipelines last week.
Norwegian F-35 fighter jets are conducting air patrols to monitor energy facilities along the Norwegian coast, after the Oslo government's decision to raise readiness to protect oil and gas facilities following the leakage in the Nord Stream pipelines.
Norway is Europe's largest supplier of natural gas after Russia cut off most of its supplies in the wake of its war on Ukraine, in response to tough European sanctions on Moscow.
It is noteworthy that Norwegian oil and gas companies have reported in recent weeks an increase in the number of unidentified drones flying over oil facilities, prompting the Norwegian Oil Safety Authority to publish an official warning of the risks of accidents or attacks.