A fourth leak has been detected in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Germany, the Swedish Coastguard said on Thursday.
Two are located in Sweden’s Exclusive Economic Zone and two in Denmark’s, the coastguard’s command centre said.
Previously only three leaks had been detected.
Powerful blasts were recorded in the Baltic Sea on Monday, the same day that pressure on both pipelines dropped, prompting accusations from Europe of sabotage.
Neither pipeline was in operation but contain natural gas composed mostly of planet-warming methane that has been rapidly escaping.
The Danish Energy Agency said on Wednesday the lines were expected to be completely empty by the weekend and that the leaks correspond to about one third of Denmark’s total climate impact in a year.
The unexplained incidents come amid sky-high tensions between Europe and Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Moscow has throttled gas supplies, throwing energy markets into disarray and triggering fears about a supply crunch as cold weather approaches.
Top European Union officials have threatened punishment for whoever was behind the leaks but have so far not attributed blame.
Local media reported that two of the four leaks are in Swedish waters and are close to each other.
The nearest community was Simrishamn, on the country’s south-eastern coast.(dpa/NAN)
