The Nord Stream pipelines were commissioned in 2011 to move natural gas from Russian fields into Western Europe.
But on 26 September 2022, both pipelines experienced multiple large pressure drops to almost zero, attributed to three unexplained underwater explosions that caused the gas inside to leak into the sea.
The study from a team at the University of Gothenburg is being conducted to follow how chemistry and life in the sea changes over time due to the large release of methane gas.
Three remote-controlled robots, which will be managed by the Voice of the Ocean Foundation (VOTO), will move around the sea and record water data continuously for the next 15 weeks.
“They are called gliders and are provided by VOTO, who also manages their operation. The robots can give us measurements over a series of time about how the chemistry and quality of the water is affected by the natural gas leak,” said oceanographer Bastien Queste at the University of Gothenburg...