Leaks were discovered on Tuesday along the route of Russia’s gas pipelines to Germany, in a mysterious twist to Europe’s energy crisis.
Sweden reported two leaks on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, in the Swedish and Danish waters that it passes through on its 1,220-kilometre route.
Denmark announced that gas was leaking from the parallel Nord Stream 2 pipeline and told mariners to avoid a radius of 9.3 kilometres around the source.
It came shortly after Germany reported pressure drops on Nord Stream 1, which has not delivered gas for weeks, and Nord Stream 2, which has been idle since February.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it was hard to believe the leaks were a coincidence, while others said it was too early to speculate.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said sabotage on the undersea routes could not be ruled out.
"Breakage of gas pipelines is extremely rare," said Kristoffer Botzauw, the director of Denmark's Energy Agency.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the leaks in the Nord Stream pipelines were caused by sabotage, and warned of the "strongest possible response" should active European energy infrastructure be attacked.
"Any deliberate disruption of active European energy infrastructure is unacceptable and will lead to the strongest possible response," Ms von der Leyen said.
The US said it was ready to help European allies over the incident.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was looking at reports that the leaks were "the result of an attack or some kind of sabotage".
"If it is confirmed, that's clearly in no one's interest," Mr Blinken said.
But he said he believed the leaks would not have a significant impact on Europe's energy resilience.
After flying helicopters over the danger zone, Denmark's armed forces released images of the turbulent Baltic waters where gas was leaking.
The boiling seas covered an area of more than a kilometre in diameter near one of the leaks, with a Danish frigate sent to the exclusion zone.
German authorities said they were working to establish the cause of the leak and whether it had occurred in German territorial waters. The two pipelines run across the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany.
A spokeswoman for Sweden's Maritime Administration told The National that planes were being diverted as well as ships, and were told to maintain a 1,000-metre altitude.
The spokeswoman said there was no information on the cause of the leaks.
Nord Stream’s Russian operators said the pressure drop had been detected late on Monday and was being investigated.
“The only positive thing is that Germany and Europe are no longer dependent on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline,” said Klaus Mueller, the head of Germany’s grid regulator, after a race since February to find alternative sources of energy.
Russia and its state-owned gas exporter Gazprom have blamed technical faults for the cut to deliveries through Nord Stream 1, which slowed over the summer and came to a complete halt this month.
Germany says the technical problems are spurious and accuses Russia of deliberately breaching its contracts.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the suspension of Nord Stream 2 in February, days before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
But the pipeline was still filled with gas and the Kremlin had indicated that it could be put into service if Europe had a change of heart — as a minority of politicians in Germany have demanded.
Denmark’s Energy Agency said Nord Stream 2 was leaking gas south-east of the island of Bornholm.
It said the leak was dangerous for naval traffic because ships could lose buoyancy or the fuel could ignite.
Swedish officials said there were two leaks near each other on Nord Stream 1, one in Swedish and one in Danish waters.
No gas has been delivered through Nord Stream 1 since September 1, after it closed for what Russia described as maintenance.
Germany’s gas tanks have been filled to 91 per cent in preparation for winter.
The Baltic Pipe, a new subsea pipeline delivering Norwegian gas to Poland with an annual capacity of 10 billion cubic metres a year, was inaugurated at a ceremony later on Tuesday.
SPECS
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Persuasion
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Naga
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The 12
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
Ipaf in numbers
Established: 2008
Prize money: $50,000 (Dh183,650) for winners and $10,000 for those on the shortlist.
Winning novels: 13
Shortlisted novels: 66
Longlisted novels: 111
Total number of novels submitted: 1,780
Novels translated internationally: 66
MATCH INFO:
Second Test
Pakistan v Australia, Tuesday-Saturday, 10am daily at Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Entrance is free
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Abu Dhabi GP Saturday schedule
12.30pm GP3 race (18 laps)
2pm Formula One final practice
5pm Formula One qualifying
6.40pm Formula 2 race (31 laps)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
