'No risk': Denmark on mysterious object found near Nord Stream 2 pipelines

A day after a mysterious object was retrieved by the Danish navy near Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, the Danish Energy Agency said Wednesday that it appeared to be a maritime buoy which poses no safety risk, as per reports.

Danish defence department earlier put out images of a 15 inches tall and about 4 inches diameter mysterious object.Danish authorities about two weeks ago said that an unidentified object was found during an inspection close to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and they were able to retrieve it on Tuesday.

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"Investigations indicate that the object is an empty maritime smoke buoy, which is used for visual marking. The object does not pose a safety risk," the Danish Energy Agency said in a statement, reported Reuters.

Denmark, in order to help salvage the mysterious object, invited the Russia-controlled operator of the pipeline.In September last year, explosions at the Nord Stream 2 pipelines, which is majority-owned by Russia's state-run energy giant Gazprom, became a new point of contention between the US-Russia faceoff.

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It must be noted that the blasts took place inside the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark.Danish authorities in November said that they gave Nord Stream permission to inspect damage at its Baltic Sea pipelines in Denmark's economic zone.

"Nord Stream AG has been authorised to carry out a marine study in an area located in Denmark's exclusive economic zone", the Danish Geodata Agency had told AFP news agency.

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During the retrieval operation of the mysterious object, a representative from Nord Stream 2 AG was also present. The operation was carried out at a depth of 73 meters, as per the Danish Energy Agency.

An intel report reviewed by US officials earlier suggested that the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines was done by a pro-Ukrainian group. However, there is no conclusive evidence of the same. Moreover, an American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh earlier said that the bombings of the Nord Stream pipelines were carried out by the United States in a secretive operation.

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