More than half of the gas from the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, damaged by an alleged sabotage in the Baltic Sea, has already escaped into the atmosphere, Danish authorities said on Wednesday, AFP reported.

Northern stream 2Photo: Nord Stream 2

“The vast majority of gas has already arrived from the pipelines,” the head of the Danish Energy Authority, Kristoffer Betzau, said at a press conference.

“We expect the rest to flee by Sunday,” he added.

Denmark’s defense minister said on Wednesday morning that because of the large amount of the spill, which is causing a massive boil in the sea, it will be “one to two weeks” before an inspection of the damaged structures can begin.

Due to the war in Ukraine, two installations were not working, but for technical reasons they were still filled with gas.

According to climate protection organizations, Nord Stream 1 and 2 contained about 350,000 tons of natural gas – methane – which is the main generator of climate-damaging greenhouse gases.

According to Greenpeace, this corresponds to an effect of almost 30 million tons of CO2, i.e. more than two-thirds of the annual emissions of Denmark’s neighbors.

Russia, which has been criticized for allegedly sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, responded on Wednesday by pointing the finger at the United States and calling for a meeting of the UN Security Council.

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