According to research, island residents cannot remember the alleged stay of the “Andromeda” sailing yacht in the port of Christiansø / Witnesses were allegedly forced to remain silent about sightings of several US warships / Previous investigation findings on the specific course of events also raise questions
Copenhagen / Bornholm.(multipolar)
Danish journalists are scrutinizing the findings of the German Federal Prosecutor General’s investigation into the explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines. According to this investigation, a group of Ukrainian citizens is responsible for the explosions, which were carried out using remote-controlled explosives, and used a sailing yacht named “Andromeda” for this purpose, among other things. However, as Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) reported at the end of September, the podcast “Taskforce Nord Stream” by the Danish portal “Frihedsbrevet” deals with inconsistencies and unanswered questions. Danish investigative journalist Bo Elkjær, who writes for the daily newspaper Dagbladet Information, among others, also told NDR that there was insufficient evidence regarding the Andromeda.
The eight-part podcast from “Frihedsbrevet,” which is available for a fee, started on August 31, a good week after the Federal Prosecutor General’s Office announced the arrest of the suspect Serhii K. in Italy. Podcast producer Thomas Arent and his team of reporters are following up on various potential leads. These include, in episode six of the podcast, the alleged three-day stay of the “Andromeda” in the port of the Baltic Sea island of Christiansø immediately before the attacks. According to NDR, the island’s administrator, Søren Thiim Andersen, told the reporters from “Frihedsbrevet” that none of the island’s residents could remember the boat or its crew. There is also no reference to the sailing yacht in the accounts of the payment machine at the port.
Island administrator Andersen also talks about “three American warships” which, due to a disabled signal transmission, did not appear on electronic nautical charts, but were observed by a local sea rescue team. The islanders were sworn to secrecy about the sighting of these ships. This coincides with the statement made by the island’s harbor master, John Anker Nielsen, to the Danish newspaper Politiken at the end of September 2024, who had observed the USS Kearsarge among the ships in question. The gag orders imposed as a result “play a role again in the eighth and latest episode of the ‘Frihedsbrevets’ podcast.
The USS Kearsarge was also part of the NATO naval exercise ”BALTOPS 22,” which took place in the Baltic Sea from June 5 to 17, 2022. According to research by various German media outlets, the German government was allegedly warned as early as 2022 by the US CIA and the Dutch military intelligence service about an attack on the Nord Stream pipelines, which was to be carried out in conjunction with the “BALTOPS” maneuvers. According to this research, the intelligence reports pointed to Ukrainian perpetrators.
Danish journalist Bo Elkjær, who according to NDR has been intensively investigating the incident surrounding the explosion of the gas pipelines at the end of September 2022 for years, also expressed doubts to the German broadcaster about the official account of the Federal Prosecutor General. Among the unanswered questions for Elkjær are why no underwater drone was used, why the yacht was rented in Rostock instead of nearby Poland, and the group’s lack of restraint in terms of speeding and other conspicuous behavior. Elkjær also mentions the alleged connection of the two people who rented the yacht to Russia. As early as 2024, the journalist told NDR that he was convinced that “the arrow points” toward Russia instead, because a Russian military fleet was operating in the Baltic Sea during the period in question.
This contrasts with research by US journalist Seymour Hersh. In a widely acclaimed article from February 2023, he also mentioned the NATO maneuver “BALTOPS” and accused the US of being the originator of the act of sabotage. A request for comment from Multipolar to Elkjær and “Frihedsbrevet” remained unanswered at the time of going to press.
It also remains unclear to what extent a state actor is responsible for the Nord Stream sabotage. In 2023, the Washington Post reported, citing anonymous sources, that the then-top Ukrainian general Valery Salushny had allegedly approved such a mission. Der Spiegel also learned of Salushny’s knowledge of the mission in September 2024 from unnamed sources. Their claim that President Volodymyr Zelensky had not been informed contradicted other “insiders” quoted by the Wall Street Journal in August 2024. According to their information, Zelensky only distanced himself from the plan after the CIA intervened.
Both Denmark and Sweden halted their investigations into Nord Stream in 2024, citing a lack of national jurisdiction. Sweden had previously handed over the results of its investigations to the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
