Spiegel: Andromeda yacht allegedly used in attack on Nord Stream gas pipelines docked in former East Germany military base

Andromeda (Bavaria Cruiser 50 Andromeda), a sailing yacht that was allegedly used in the operation to blow up Russia’s Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in 2022, is currently docked at Cape Bug located near Germany’s Dranske municipality on the Rügen Island, Der Spiegel writes.

According to the newspaper, the sailing boat is stationed in a former military port not accessible to the public which used to host East Germany’s vessels. Der Spiegel reports that the base was shut down following the German reunification. The territory is now used by a charter company that owns Andromeda to dock sailing boats over winter.

According to the newspaper, the ship was searched in January, the investigation team found traces of explosives and seized the yacht’s electronic equipment to study details of the case. Der Spiegel claims that the email address used to rent the boat can point to the fact that Ukraine was involved in the explosions.

“However, there has not been any evidence proving that the Ukrainian government in Kyiv could have been involved in the terrorist attacks. It can also be a deliberate deception operation,” the newspaper underlines.

The vessel does not have an automated identification system, it cannot be tracked through the usual services that follow ships’ movements, Der Spiegel adds. The investigation team was forced to use saved Baltic Sea navigation radiolocation records, which can be incomplete for smaller boats, to trace Andromeda’s itinerary route.

On 26 September, two separate gas leaks were detected in Nord Stream 1 in Denmark’s exclusive economic zone northeast of Bornholm Island. Another rupture was recorded later in Nord Stream 2 southeast of the island. Swedish and Danish seismological stations identified powerful underwater explosions in the same area.

Der Tagesspiegel reported that the pipelines could have been damaged in a deliberate attack that was either masterminded by Ukraine or Russia.

The New York Times cited US officials to claim that US intelligence community data points to the fact that a “pro-Ukrainian group” was behind the Nord Stream attack. At the same time, The Washington Post stressed that there had been no evidence proving that the explosions were linked to any particular country.