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Germany Tells UN: Nord Stream Inquiry Found Subsea Explosive Traces on Yacht

Visitors disembark from a ferry on the island of Christianso, a small archipelago with just 98 inhabitants under the administration of the Danish defense ministry, in the Baltic Sea near the Nord Stream pipeline blast sites, in Denmark, March 9, 2023. REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo
Visitors disembark from a ferry on the island of Christianso, a small archipelago with just 98 inhabitants under the administration of the Danish defense ministry, in the Baltic Sea near the Nord Stream pipeline blast sites, in Denmark, March 9, 2023. REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo
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Germany Tells UN: Nord Stream Inquiry Found Subsea Explosive Traces on Yacht

Visitors disembark from a ferry on the island of Christianso, a small archipelago with just 98 inhabitants under the administration of the Danish defense ministry, in the Baltic Sea near the Nord Stream pipeline blast sites, in Denmark, March 9, 2023. REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo
Visitors disembark from a ferry on the island of Christianso, a small archipelago with just 98 inhabitants under the administration of the Danish defense ministry, in the Baltic Sea near the Nord Stream pipeline blast sites, in Denmark, March 9, 2023. REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo

Germany found traces of subsea explosives in samples taken from a yacht that it suspects "may have been used to transport the explosives" to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipelines, it told the UN Security Council in a letter with Sweden and Denmark.

A series of unexplained explosions hit the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines connecting Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea last September in the exclusive economic zones of Germany, Sweden and Denmark, Reuters said.

The trio are each conducting separate investigations and sent an update - seen by Reuters - ahead of a meeting of the 15-member Security Council on Tuesday called by Russia, which has complained that it has not been kept informed about the probes.

"None of the investigations has been concluded and at this point, it is still not possible to say when they will be concluded. The nature of the acts of sabotage is unprecedented and the investigations are complex," the three wrote in a joint letter, dated Monday, which included an update on each inquiry.

The joint letter said Germany has been investigating "the suspicious charter of a sailing yacht" that had been rented in a way to "hide the identity of the real charterer." Germany was still investigating the precise course of the boat.

"It is suspected that the boat in question may have been used to transport the explosives that exploded at the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines," the letter said of Germany's inquiry. "Traces of subsea explosives were found in the samples taken from the boat during the investigation."

"According to expert assessments, it is possible that trained divers could have attached explosives at the points where damage occurred to the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which are laid on the seabed at a depth of approx. 70 to 80 meters," it said of Germany's inquiry.

Moscow has said the West was behind the blasts. Western governments have denied involvement as has Ukraine, which is fighting Russian forces that invaded in February 2022.

Russia failed in March to get the UN Security Council to ask for an independent inquiry into the Nord Stream blasts.

"At this point it is not possible to reliably establish the identity of the perpetrators and their motives, particularly regarding the question of whether the incident was steered by a state or state actor," the letter said of Germany's inquiry.

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Taiwan Shuts Down as Strong Typhoon Kong-Rey Hits, One Dead

This Himawari satellite handout image from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) website in collaboration with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA/NESDIS) and Colorado State University-CIRA (CSU/CIRA) taken and released on October 31, 2024 shows typhoon Kong-rey developing over the Pacific as it approaches Taiwan (center L). (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
This Himawari satellite handout image from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) website in collaboration with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA/NESDIS) and Colorado State University-CIRA (CSU/CIRA) taken and released on October 31, 2024 shows typhoon Kong-rey developing over the Pacific as it approaches Taiwan (center L). (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
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Taiwan Shuts Down as Strong Typhoon Kong-Rey Hits, One Dead

This Himawari satellite handout image from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) website in collaboration with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA/NESDIS) and Colorado State University-CIRA (CSU/CIRA) taken and released on October 31, 2024 shows typhoon Kong-rey developing over the Pacific as it approaches Taiwan (center L). (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
This Himawari satellite handout image from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) website in collaboration with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA/NESDIS) and Colorado State University-CIRA (CSU/CIRA) taken and released on October 31, 2024 shows typhoon Kong-rey developing over the Pacific as it approaches Taiwan (center L). (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)

A strong Typhoon Kong-rey made landfall on Taiwan's east coast on Thursday, the largest storm by size to hit the island in nearly 30 years, closing financial markets, causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled and reducing rail services.
The typhoon knocked out power to nearly half a million households, the government said.
The storm hit the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast county of Taitung, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration, with strong winds and torrential rain affecting almost all the island.
The fire department reported one person had died when their truck hit a fallen tree in central Taiwan.
At one point a super typhoon, Kong-rey slightly weakened overnight but remained powerful as the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane packing gusts of more than 250 kph (155 mph), according to Tropical Storm Risk.
Taiwan's weather administration put the typhoon's size at the biggest to hit the island since 1996.
"I hope that everyone in the country will co-operate in avoiding disaster and refraining from engaging in dangerous behaviour such as wave watching during the typhoon," President Lai Ching-te wrote on his Facebook page.
Administration forecaster Gene Huang said after hitting the east coast it would head towards the Taiwan Strait as a much weakened storm and urged people across the island to stay at home due to the danger of high winds.
Environmental officials were working on Thursday to prevent oil leaking from a Chinese cargo ship beached against rocks on Taiwan's northern coast after losing power in turbulent weather.
Warnings for destructive winds of more than 160 kph (100 mph) were issued in Taitung, whose outlying Lanyu island recorded gusts above 260 kph (162 mph) before some of the wind-barometers there went offline.
"It was terrifying last night. Many people on the island didn't sleep, worrying about something happening to their house," Sinan Rapongan, a government official on Lanyu, also known as Orchid Island, told Reuters.
Some roofs had been damaged and more than 1,300 homes had lost power but so far no injuries had been reported, she added.
Parts of eastern Taiwan recorded one meter (3.3 feet) of rainfall since the typhoon began approaching on Wednesday.
The defense ministry has put 36,000 troops on standby to help with rescue efforts, while almost 10,000 people have been evacuated from high risk areas ahead of time, the government said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's largest contract chipmaker and major supplier to companies like Apple and Nvidia, said it has activated routine typhoon alert preparation procedures at all its factories and construction sites.
"We do not expect significant impact to our operations," it said in an emailed statement.
Taiwan's transport ministry said 314 international flights had been cancelled, along with all domestic flights.
Taiwan's high speed railway, which connects major cities on its populated western plains, continued to operate with a much reduced service.
Kong-rey is forecast to graze China along the coast of Fujian province on Friday morning. China's financial hub Shanghai is bracing for potentially the worst rains in more than 40 years.
Subtropical Taiwan is frequently hit by typhoons. The last one, Typhoon Krathon, killed four people earlier this month as it passed through the south of the island.