Two vessels with transponders off were close to where the NordStream pipelines exploded

19 November 20221 year ago babelfish

Two vessels with their transponders switched off were spotted near the Nord Stream pipeline leaks days before the explosions were detected, according to data from a satellite elevation company reported by Business Insider.

The same company had detected 25 vessels near the sites of the leaks, two of which had their trackers switched off. A ship turning off its AIS tracker is considered a sign of something potentially illegal, especially if this occurs in international waters.

The ships were between 311 and 426 feet long, or about 100 to 140 meters, and had their automatic identification systems, or AIS trackers, turned off, said Jerry Javornicky, cofounder of SpaceKnow.

“They had their beacons turned off, which means there was no information about their movements and they were trying to keep their location information and background information from the world,” Javornicky said.

The International Maritime Organization requires ships with a cargo of 330 tons or more, as well as passenger ships of all sizes, to turn on their AIS trackers during international voyages. It is an essential tool for tracking vessels both during normal navigation and during emergencies.

A vessel that switches off its transponder is often seen as suspicious, as this practice is common for vessels engaged in illicit activities such as illegal fishing, human trafficking and the evasion of international sanctions. The fact that two ships with the tracker turned off were in the area of the explosions is extremely suspicious, also because the size of the vessels is such that it would have allowed them to carry what was necessary for the sabotage of the gas pipeline. However, two ships of this size cannot disappear into thin air, also because satellite footage exists alongside the tracking data. Swedish investigators probably already have a clear idea of who was guilty. However, strangely, there is no specific news on the matter, beyond general statements according to which the explosion is the result of sabotage.

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The article Two ships with transponders off were close to where the NordStream gas pipelines exploded comes from Scenari Economici .

This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/due-navi-a-transponder-spento-erano-vicine-a-dove-sono-esplosi-i-gasdotti-nordstream/ on Fri, 18 Nov 2022 10:48:04 +0000.