Finnish President Sauli Nīniste announced on Tuesday that he has contacted NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and that NATO is ready to help in the investigation of the “Balticconnector” damage.
Finnish President Sauli Nīniste announced on Tuesday that he has contacted NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and that NATO is ready to help in the investigation of the “Balticconnector” damage.
The Finnish border guard and the coast guard of the Gulf of Finland have identified the location of the leak: it is located on the territory of Finland.
According to the information available so far, the damage in the Balticconnector gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia could not have occurred as a result of its normal operation or due to a normal pressure drop, Finnish Prime Minister Peteri Orpo announced on Tuesday.
Orpo said that gas supply in Finland remains stable. “We are not talking about damage that could disrupt the operation of our gas transportation system,” the prime minister said.
Timo Kilpelainen, head of the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation’s investigative division, said there were “no signs that explosives were used in this act”.
Finnish border guard deputy chief Marku Hasinen said the pipeline had significant damage that appeared to have been caused by an external force.
Telecom operator Elisa also confirmed on Tuesday that there had been disruption over the weekend caused by a “cable break”.
“The outage does not affect Elisa services, as it is a backup connection,” the operator said in a statement.
The Estonian transmission system operator “Elering” and the Finnish system operator “Gasgrid Finland” closed the “Balticconnector” on the night of Sunday, as a pressure drop in the pipeline was observed, indicating a possible gas leak. According to estimates, the operation of the gas pipeline has been suspended for several months.
“Balticconnector” between Paldiski and Inko is 77 kilometers long. It was put into operation at the beginning of 2020. Because the pipeline stretches across the entire Gulf of Finland, the heavy shipping traffic makes it difficult to investigate the cause of the possible leak, the border guard said.
