On November 6, 2015, the NATO Seafox mine disposal unmanned underwater vehicle was found during the scheduled visual inspection of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, TASS reports. A spokesperson for Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Monday that a mine destroyer discovered at the Nord Stream 1 offshore gas pipeline in 2015 belonged to NATO.

Russian Media Report: #Gazprom has published photographs of a device loaded with explosives, which was discovered in November 2015 right next to the Nord Stream 1 pipe. #NATO then said that the device was lost during the exercises. #Russia

https://twitter.com/OsintTv/status/1579519968718499841

Nord Stream reported on that date in 2015 that a “munitions object” had been cleared by the Swedish armed forces, without giving more detail on the object.

Gazprom spokesperson Sergei Kupriyanov told Russian state television on Monday that a NATO device, called a SeaFox, was retrieved from a depth of around 40 metres (125 feet) and made safe.

The Nord Stream website has an official account of the incident where it details that the pipeline was halted briefly before the Swedish forces carried the munitions away. 

“The piece of munitions was found in close proximity to the Nord Stream Line 2 on November 6, 2015 during routine survey operations as part of annual integrity assessment activities of the Nord Stream offshore pipeline system,” read the statement. 

“The location of the object was in the Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) approximately 120 km away from the island of Gotland. The relevant Swedish Authorities were informed and stayed in a direct contact with Nord Stream until the object was successfully cleared,” it added

An international investigation is underway into a terrorist attacks that took place late last month, in the Russian-built Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines on the bed of the Baltic Sea.

Europe suspects an act of sabotage pointing to United States, that stood to gain from the terrorist attack on the Nord Stream pipelines.

Gazprom owns 51% in Swiss-based Nord Stream AG, operator of Nord Stream 1.