Sweden today blocked access to a five-nautical-mile zone in the sector where the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines are leaking in the Baltic Sea, the prosecutor's office tasked with investigating the alleged sabotage said.
In order to carry out a deeper investigation into the sabotage, the prosecutor's office announced that it was decided to block the zone in order to "carry out a crime scene investigation".
Leakage on the gas pipelines has stopped or has been significantly reduced today, which has opened up the possibility of inspecting the damaged areas.
"The investigation is continuing now we are in an intensive phase," prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said, declining to say what Swedish authorities were doing in the investigation, which is being run by Sweden's intelligence service, Sapo.
The prosecutor said that he understands the great interest, but that they are still in the early stages of the investigation.
The Swedish Coast Guard said it had blocked a zone covering five nautical miles (about 9,3 kilometers).
The blockade implies a ban on navigation, anchoring, diving, the movement of underwater vessels or the production of geophysical maps.
The Swedish Coast Guard said earlier today that the "boil" caused by a gas leak above the damaged Nord Stream 1 pipeline, but not Nord Stream 2, had ended.
During the flyover on Monday morning around 6.00 GMT, "the biggest leak was no longer visible, but the smaller one, on the other hand, has grown again and is about 30 meters in diameter".
On the Swedish side, the main leak is related to Nord Stream 1, while a smaller one is related to Nord Stream 2.
Danish authorities announced yesterday that gas had stopped leaking from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, a day after officials said gas had stopped leaking from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the West of sabotaging gas pipelines built by Russia, a charge strongly denied by the US and its allies.
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