Bild: the Andromeda yacht could not be used to undermine the Nord Streams

The Andromeda yacht, allegedly involved in the Nord Stream bombings, does not have the technical ability to release the amount of explosives involved into the water, the German newspaper Bild reported.

According to the publication, it was on this yacht that the German investigation conducted searches in January 2023. The yacht was chartered by Mola Yachting in the German city of Brege on the island of Rügen. Bild, citing local media, clarified that Andromeda allegedly sailed from Rostock through Rügen to Bornholm, where at least 1,500 kg of explosives were placed at a depth of about 80 m.

The publication doubted this version, since there is no crane on the yacht to safely lower such an amount of explosives into the water, and, according to the authors, the Ukrainian sabotage group could not carry it through Poland and Germany without attracting the attention of the special services and the police.

In addition, the operation required a large amount of equipment for divers, which Andromeda was not designed to carry. One of the diving instructors Bild spoke to noted that it took four to eight hours to complete such an operation, and if the boat had been in one place for that long, it would also attract attention.

On March 7, The New York Times reported on the appearance of new US intelligence, which refers to the involvement of some pro-Ukrainian group in sabotage at the Nord Stream. Sources of the newspaper among American officials specified that Washington has no evidence of involvement in the blowing up of pipelines by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his subordinates. No “Russian trace” was found in the case either.

Later that day, the German newspaper Zeit, citing a German investigation, stated that a Ukrainian ship, on which traces of explosives were found, could be involved in the sabotage.

The Kremlin called the publications a “coordinated stuffing” and questioned the involvement of pro-Ukrainian forces in undermining the Nord Streams. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called on the West to respond to Russia’s requests for sabotage, and not to allow leaks in the information field.

The Nord Stream incident occurred on the night of September 26, 2022. Pressure dropped in both pipelines. Two subsequently discovered leaks were in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Sweden, and two more were in the Danish EEZ.