Nord Stream investigation: Early lead to suspicious sailboat

After research by NDR and WDR In the case of the Nord Stream sabotage, German investigators knew about the sailing boat “Andromeda” earlier than previously known. Before the BKA, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution had already visited the charter company.

Apparently, German security authorities received information about the sailing ship “Andromeda” shortly after the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines – and thus much earlier than previously known. According to the Attorney General, investigators from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) searched the ship in mid-January this year. After research by NDR and WDR However, the intelligence services are said to have been following the trail for some time.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) then questioned the employees of the charter company that owns the ship last year. The Federal Intelligence Service (BND) was also informed afterwards. Both intelligence services – BfV and BND – are said to have passed their findings on to the investigating federal prosecutor later.

How was the “Andromeda” trace found?

It is unclear exactly when and how the intelligence services got on the trail of the “Andromeda”. A massive survey of ship rental companies on the Baltic Sea took place after research by WDR and NDR obviously not taking place. When asked, numerous ship rental companies stated that they had not been contacted by German investigators.

A spokeswoman for the Attorney General said they would not comment on the investigation. However, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution was not on the road on behalf of the Attorney General. Neither BND nor BfV commented on request. The responsible houses – the Chancellery and the Federal Ministry of the Interior – did not initially respond either.

Confidentiality requirement for foreign tips

If you look back at past cases, there could be a reason for the intelligence services’ reluctance: when intelligence services receive a tip from abroad, the so-called third-party rule often applies. According to this, the authority that receives such a tip from abroad is generally not allowed to share this information directly with other authorities – such as the police or judiciary. In such a case, German services first have to investigate themselves in order to then be able to pass on their own results to the Federal Public Prosecutor and the police authorities working for him.

had in early March ARD and “Zeit” published findings from the police investigation into the Nord Stream attack for the first time. Since then, the focus has been on the sailing yacht “Andromeda”. Several people are said to have set sail from Rostock at the beginning of September 2022. Via Wiek auf Rügen, the ship continued to the small Danish island of Christiansø near Bornholm – very close to the pipelines.

Chartered from shell company

The ship returned about two weeks later. The ship was rented by a company from Poland, which in turn is said to belong to Ukrainians. German investigators leave after research NDR and WDR now assume that it is probably a letterbox company, no business activities should be known.

One thing is clear: the ship was chartered under the wrong personal details. Falsified Romanian passports were presented, and the investigators have photos of them. The persons specified should actually exist, but they should have been in their home country at the time of shipping.

False flag operation possible

The ship is probably the hottest lead of the German investigators so far. Explosives were found on a table in the ship’s cabin. After research by NDR and WDR According to BKA investigations, it is said to be the same substance that was found on the wreckage of the destroyed pipelines. However, there seem to be doubts about its validity. Because in investigative circles, the possibility is still being considered that the wrong track should be intentionally laid with the rented sailing yacht.

The Attorney General has not yet commented in detail on the course of the investigation. Apparently, the BKA and the federal police should have found out about the forged passports and the ship by the end of 2022. The “Andromeda” was not searched until mid-January – why only then is unclear. In security circles it is said that a search and securing of evidence will make an investigation “open”, i.e. there is a risk of it becoming public knowledge. In some cases, the authorities try to avoid or at least delay this for investigative reasons.

Danish police already asked in December

The investigations in Denmark raise further questions: According to the administrator of the island of Christiansø, the Danish police had already inquired in December 2022 about ships that had been in port in September. But it was only in January that Danish officials apparently came by – almost at the same time as the BKA officials were visiting the “Andromeda”.

The original plan was to set up an international “Joint Investigation Team”. However, Sweden had rejected this – on the grounds that the security classification of the investigation results was too high. In Germany, there are also said to have been reservations because the separation between police and secret service work in Sweden is not exactly clear. The federal states therefore mainly investigate on their own.

Attorney General determined

In September 2022, detonations caused serious damage to three of the four Nord Stream tubes of the pipelines. In October, the Attorney General finally initiated investigations. According to this, there is a suspicion of “deliberate causing an explosive device explosion” and “anti-constitutional sabotage”. It was a “serious violent attack on the energy supply”. This is likely to impair Germany’s external and internal security. The Attorney General has commissioned the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Federal Police to investigate.

It is still unclear who is actually responsible for the attack. In addition to the “Andromeda”, there are other ships that were in the vicinity before the explosions. For example, a Greek tanker hardly moved for days. As early as September there had also been initial reports of Russian ships in the vicinity, which were last specified by “t-online”. A Danish Navy reconnaissance ship is said to have rushed into the area with Swedish units.