Danes say object beside Nord Stream pipeline a harmless buoy

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A mysterious object found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, which Danish authorities had hoped could provide clues to the bombings that incapacitated the Nord Stream pipelines, has turned out to be a harmless smoke signal canister. The Danish Energy Agency said Wednesday that the cylindrical object found on the seabed by the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was an empty maritime smoke buoy, which is used for visual marking. An agency statement said the object had been recovered Tuesday. The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic, built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany, were damaged by explosions on the night of Sept. 26, 2022. The cause of the blasts remains unknown.