The company spotted two ‘ghost ships’ near the Nord Stream

UOn Saturday, a US company found two ‘ghost ships’ near the Nord Stream gas pipelines that were damaged in September, under yet-to-be-determined circumstances and amid several allegations of sabotage between the West and Russia.

magazine WiredAnalyzing the data collected by the satellite, SpaceKnow found two ships near the gas pipelines shortly before the gas leak.

“We found some ‘ghost ships.’ [do inglês ‘dark ships’], ships of considerable size pass through this area of ​​interest. “They turned off their headlights, meaning there was no information about their movements, and they tried to hide their location and general information,” said Jerry Zawarnicki, CEO and founder of SpaceKnow.

According to WIRED, the ships range in length from 95 to 130 meters. Jawornicki says the ships were discovered thanks to the use of a series of algorithms that collected over 90 days of archived satellite images.

Of the 25 ships that sailed near the Nord Stream spills, SpaceKnow found two without proper automatic identification, which is mandatory under international law.

Several countries, notably Sweden and Denmark, are investigating the incident at gas pipelines linking Russia and Germany across the North Sea. The infrastructure is at the center of diplomatic tensions between Russia and the European Union, with Moscow sharply cutting natural gas supplies to Berlin.

Several investigations have already pointed to the explosions at a gas pipeline belonging to Russian company Gazprom, but Russia continues to deny any involvement – before accusing the US of sabotage.

SpaceKnow added that it provided NATO with the available images at the request of the Atlantic Alliance. NATO has not confirmed that it received the materials from the company, but a source at the company confirmed the request to WIRED.

Also read: Moscow accuses London of “acts of terrorism” against the gas pipeline