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OSINT & Analysis by Oliver Alexander

The Nord Stream Andromeda Story: What We Know and What We Don’t

A look at what we know about the recent development regarding a chartered yacht, andromeda, as well as the questions posed by this supposed series of events..

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Two days ago, The New York Times published an article in which an anonymous US official suggested that the operation to sabotage the Nord Stream pipelines may have been conducted by a pro-Ukrainian group. Unfortunately this article contained very little verifiable new information with no concrete details that could in anyway be investigated further. “U.S. officials declined to disclose the nature of the intelligence, how it was obtained or any details of the strength of the evidence it contains.”

Shortly thereafter Zeit published an article with an investigation they had done providing more details. This article lays out that a group of 6 unidentified people, possibly from a pro-Ukrainian group, used high quality fake passports and chartered a yacht in Rostock on September 6th before heading to place explosives at the Nord Stream sabotage sites. The yacht reportedly made a stop in Weick and on Chrisitansø as part of the trip. The yacht was later searched by the German authorities and traces of explosives were found. The article also stated that the charter was paid for by a Polish company owned by two Ukrainians.

Over the last two days, parts of this story have been corroborated, while other parts have raised further questions. Initially we can look at the aspects of the story that can be corroborated.

The Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet confirmed that police had conducted an investigation on the island of Christiansø and was looking for a specific vessel that was docked on the island between the 16th and 18th September.

SPIEGEL Politik released an article that gave a detailed description of the yacht involved in the investigation. In this article it is stated that the yacht was over 15 meters long, had 5 cabins, could accommodate 11 people and cost just under 3000 Euros a week to rent. They also stated that the yacht was rented out by a company from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. This information made it possible to narrow the search down to two vessels out of the Hohe Düne marina in Rostock, rented out by Mola Yachting GmbH. These two vessels are both Bavaria Cruiser 50 yachts. These yachts are 15.57 meters long, can accommodate 11 people in 5 cabins and cost 2998 Euros a week to rent for the time period in September. Unfortunately according to the Mola Yachting website, these two yachts are not equipped with an AIS (Automatic Identification System), which means that the movements cannot be tracked using ship tracking site like MarineTraffic .

This could then be further narrowed down to the specific vessel the “Andromeda” through the help of several sources with knowledge of the investigation. This has now been publicly confirmed by the SPIEGEL . The Andromeda can be seen in this 2017 video from Yacht TV .

Knowing the vessel, a hole in the Zeit story became apparent. In the article it is claimed that the yacht was spotted in Wieck auf dem Darß on the 7th September. Looking at nautical charts of the area, this would be highly unlikely as the Wieck auf dem Darß harbor only has a depth of 1.4m while a Bavaria Cruiser 50 has a draft of 2.25m.

This inconsistency was further reinforced after Ostsee Zeitung interviewed the harbormaster at Wieck auf dem Darß where he stated that he had never been contacted by the authorities and suspected that there had been a mix-up. This left the more suitable marina of Wiek on the island of Rügen as the more likely candidate. This has today been confirmed by WELT after interviewing the harbormaster at Wiek who could confirm that they had been previously contacted by authorities regarding the situation.

This error has now been edited and corrected to Wiek, Rügen in the Zeit story, though it raises questions as to how the story went ahead with this rather large error.

The Zeit article and overall story leaves many unanswered questions including several of the points that are used to point at a pro-Ukrainian group. It is stated that the group has been professionally trained and used very high quality fake passports during the operation to protect their identity. At the same time though the boat charter was reportedly paid for by a Polish company owned by two Ukrainians leaving a very direct link back to Ukraine. It is also stated that the yacht was returned “uncleaned” after the charter, which undoubtably aided the authorities in finding explosive residue inside the boat on the table. For a highly sophisticated operation carried out with focus on secrecy and apparent subterfuge, why did the team involved decide to be so careless at this pivotal final moment as to not clean the yacht prior to returning it?

The Times wrote another piece where they state that the explosives were driven from Poland into Germany. Why would the group acquire explosives in Poland and then risk transporting it over the border to Germany and sail of out Rostock? It would have been safer and logistically easier to set sail from a Polish marina which is also closer to Bornholm and the site of the Nord Stream sabotage. This adds a large amount of increased complexity and risk for no logical reason.

Depending on the amount of explosives used in the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline, the size of the vessel can also be questioned. In the article by The New York Times, they mentioned a previous quote from the investigation that stated that up to 500kg of explosives was used at each Nord Stream 1 site. If this is true, that would make the use of a Bavaria Cruiser 50 to perform this sabotage very unlikely. Transporting this amount of explosive on a 15m yacht along with 6 people and large amount of tanks and equipment for the dives would be close to impossible, not to mention the task of moving this amount of explosives from the yacht down to the pipes. Even with a small amount of explosives, performing several technical dives to 80m from a yacht like the Andromeda would be very difficult and highly impractical.

The story also makes no mention of the Greek flagged crude oil carrier the Minerva Julie which circled the area around the Nord Stream 1 explosion sites between the 5th and 13th September. Coincidentally the exact same time as the “Andromeda” would have been in the area placing the charges on the pipes. Using the “Andromeda” to transport the team and possible supplies and meet up with the Minerva Julie sounds like a more plausible scenario to me.

Additionally, the locations of the Nord Stream 1 explosions are in some of the deepest water in the area directly surrounding Bornholm. Why would a non-state actor operating off a 50 foot yacht decide to place the explosives at the most difficult and time-consuming location? The vessel was relatively small and not equipped with active AIS, so there would be hundreds of more accessible locations along the pipes for the saboteurs to place the explosive charges. On top of this, blowing the pipeline towards the deepest point in the area reduces the amount of the pipeline that is flooded and as a result makes it easier and cheaper to repair. The group chose the most difficult area to perform the dive where the damage would be the easiest to repair.

The yacht story does not explain why only three of the four Nord Stream pipes were destroyed and why a single Nord Stream 2 pipe was ruptured approximately 80km away from the location of the two Nord Stream 1 explosions. This is a point I have previously tried to explain with an alternative hypothesis.

All in all, this investigation into the Andromeda adds several interesting details to the story, but also leaves a lot more mystery out there. It is interesting to note that the Russian government is strongly denying this series of events and sticking firmly with the Seymour Hersh story that I have previously debunked. Today Dmitry Peskov was quoted saying “As for some kind of pro-Ukrainian" Dr. Evil ", who organized all this, it's hard to believe in it.” This raises some questions as to why Russia is so keen to completely dismiss a scenario that implicates Ukraine in the destruction of Nord Stream.

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Divers used chartered yacht to sabotage Nord Stream pipelines – report

Report in Der Spiegel says six-person crew took Andromeda to Christiansø, close to site of blasts, but experts question theory

The underwater bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines last September was carried out by a team of divers operating from a 15-metre chartered yacht called the Andromeda, according to a new report.

The report in Der Spiegel traces the Andromeda’s route around the Baltic from its home marina in Rostock on 6 September to the German island of Rügen and then finally to the Danish island of Christiansø, close to the site of the blasts on 26 September.

Experts have questioned whether the amount of explosives used in the sabotage attacks, estimated to be several hundred kilograms, as well with the necessary breathing apparatus and other equipment could have been carried on such a small boat, raising the question of whether another vessel was involved.

Der Spiegel said that one of the six-person crew on the Andromeda was using a forged Bulgarian passport, but the German investigators have yet to identify the nationality of the bombers, or attribute responsibility to any government. A New York Times report this week cited intelligence sources as saying a pro-Ukrainian group was involved, but German authorities have warned about the possibility of a “false-flag” operations in which misleading clues are left deliberately to point in the wrong direction.

The Ukrainian government has denied any involvement in the attack on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which were built to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany, and are majority-owned by the Russian state-owned company Gazprom. They were not operational at the time of the attack, which came seven months after Vladimir Putin’s all-out invasion of Ukraine , but they were filled with gas, which bubbled to the surface, creating a wide area of visible turbulence.

The Spiegel quotes a harbour master in Rügen as saying the group that hired the Andromeda were dressed like normal sailors, and that he saw them carrying shopping bags of provisions to the boat, speaking a language that “sounded Polish or Czech to him”. He said there were several men and a woman.

The Andromeda is a Bavaria C50, a sailing boat made by a German company, Bavaria Yachts . It has five cabins and room for up to 11 people. It has a platform at the back to dive from.

At the site of the blasts, the Baltic Sea is about 80 metres deep, requiring specialist diving skills and special air tanks, one with a helium-oxygen mixture and one with pure oxygen, the Spiegel report said.

Each dive would have required the boat to be over the pipeline for about three hours. To have laid explosives on two pipelines 4km apart would probably have required four dives over a few days.

Diving experts say such extended deep dives would have required a decompression chamber for the divers, which would not fit on a yacht. There are also question on whether there would be room for the required explosives. The Danish and Swedish governments have said that the blasts were equivalent to the power of “several hundred kilograms of explosive”. Some experts say up to 2,000kg would have been needed.

“We have been presented a piece of a puzzle. However, we don’t know how big the puzzle is. Is it 50 pieces, 500 or 5,000 pieces?” said Christian Mölling, the head of the centre for security and defence at the German Council on Foreign Relations .

“Was there was a second boat and did somebody transport the explosive from somewhere else?” Mölling asked. “So that’s why I think there are pieces of the puzzle missing for the moment.”

The chair of the Bundestag’s intelligence oversight committee, Konstantin von Notz, has warned the press “to be as cautious as possible with any conclusions at this point in time”.

He told Die Zeit the investigation was “very likely to be dealing with a state or quasi-state actor because it is very demanding to transport large quantities of explosives – up to two tons are now being discussed – undetected to the right place in the Baltic Sea, to transport them into a relevant depth in order to trigger several explosions in a controlled manner”.

He said a “state-backed act of terrorism makes it more likely that false or deceptive clues were laid”.

The German public prosecutor’s office has said that a boat had been searched between 18 and 20 January over “suspicions it could have been used to transport explosive devices that exploded on 26 September 2022”.

• Nord Stream 1 pipeline
• Nord Stream 2 pipeline

More on this story

Denmark drops investigation into Nord Stream pipeline blasts

Sweden to drop inquiry into Nord Stream pipeline explosions

Biden ‘knew of Ukrainian plan to attack Nord Stream’ three months before explosion

State actor still main suspect behind Nord Stream sabotage, says investigator

German prosecutors searched boat Nord Stream saboteurs may have used

Officials believe pro-Ukraine group may have sabotaged Nord Stream – reports

‘Gross sabotage’: traces of explosives found at sites of Nord Stream gas leaks

Nord Stream 1: first underwater images reveal devastating damage

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Online Sleuths Untangle the Mystery of the Nord Stream Sabotage

It’s been six months since the Nord Stream gas pipelines were ruptured by a series of explosions, leaking tons of methane into the environment and  igniting an international whodunit . Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and an unnamed pro-Ukrainian group have all been accused of planting explosives on the Baltic Sea pipelines in recent months. But half a year since the sabotage took place, the mystery remains unsolved.

Digital sleuths are stepping in to help provide clarity around bombshell claims about who was behind the attacks. Open source intelligence (OSINT) researchers are using public sources of data in their efforts to verify or debunk the snippets of information published about the Nord Stream explosions. They’re providing a glimpse of clarity to an incident that’s shrouded by secrecy and international politics.

Since early February, multiple media reports have claimed to provide new information about who could have attacked the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines on September 26. However, the reports have largely been based on anonymous sources, including unnamed intelligence officials and leaks from government investigations into the attacks.

First, American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published claims that the US was behind attacks in a  post on Substack . This was followed by reports in The New York Times and German publication  Die Zeit claiming a pro-Ukrainian group was responsible. (European leaders have  previously speculated Russia could be behind the attacks, and Russia has  blamed the United Kingdom .) No country has claimed responsibility for the blasts so far, and official investigations are ongoing.

Each of the recent reports has provided little hard evidence to show what may actually have happened, while helping to fuel speculation. Jacob Kaarsbo, a senior analyst at Think Tank Europa, who previously worked in Danish intelligence for 15 years, says the claims have been “remarkable” but also “speculative” in nature. “In my mind, they don’t really alter the picture,” Kaarsbo says, adding the attacks look highly complex and would likely be “very hard to pull off without it being a state actor or at least with state sponsorship.”

In the absence of official information, OSINT researchers have been trying to plug the gaps by examining the claims of the new reports with public data.  OSINT analysis is a powerful way to determine how an event may have unfolded. For instance, flight- and ship-tracking data can reveal movements around the world, satellite images show Earth in near real-time, while small clues in the backgrounds of photos and videos can reveal where they were taken. The techniques have  uncovered Russian assassins , spotted North Korea evading  international trading sanctions , identified  potential war criminals , and  documented pollution .

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For the Nord Stream blasts, there was little OSINT available. Researchers  identified “dark ships” in the area . But underwater, there are obviously limited data sources that can be tapped into—cameras and sensors don’t monitor every inch of the pipelines. “OSINT probably won’t break this case open, but it can be used to verify or strengthen other hypotheses,” says Oliver Alexander, an analyst who focuses on OSINT and has been closely looking at the Nord Stream blasts. “I do think that it’s more of a verification tool.”

Alexander and others have been examining the claims made so far. The New York Times and  Die Zeit  both published stories on March 7 claiming a Ukrainian group was behind the sabotage. (Ukraine has  denied any involvement .)  Die Zeit published more details, claiming German investigators searched a yacht rented from a company based in Poland, knew where the yacht sailed from, and that six people were involved in the operation, including two divers. All of them used forged passports, the publication reported.

The details were enough for OSINT researchers to start tracking down which yacht could have been used. Alexander, as well as contributors to the open-source investigative outlet Bellingcat, started following the breadcrumbs, narrowing down potential vessels. A follow-up  report soon named the boat under suspicion as the Andromeda , a 15-meter-long yacht. Webcam footage from the harbor where it is  believed the Andromeda was docked shows the movement of a boat around the time reported by the publications. (The Andromeda is  reportedly too small to be required to use ship-tracking systems.)  Years-old videos   and photos of the boat have surfaced. The sleuthing adds public details to the reports.

Similarly, OSINT has been used to debunk Hersh’s story claiming the United States was behind the explosions. (Hersh has  defended his article , while US officials have said it was false.) Alexander has used, among other things,  ship-tracking data to show Norwegian ships were “accounted for” and not in a “position to have placed the explosives on the Nord Stream pipeline, as claimed by Hersh.” Another detailed article from Norwegian journalists has similarly  poured cold water on Hersh’s claims , partly using satellite data.

The sabotage was always likely to be controversial and surrounded by rumors: Russia’s full-scale invasion of  Ukraine in February 2022 has heated global tensions and put pressure on diplomats around the world. There has been a whirlwind of disinformation around the blasts, further muddying the waters. Mary Blankenship, a disinformation researcher at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who has analyzed online conversations around the war, says the “high uncertainty and high stakes” of the incident help to fuel the spread of disinformation. 

“This is an issue that exploits existing worries, tensions, and grievances within European audiences,” Blankenship says. Initially, the earliest disinformation on Twitter about the explosions came from conspiracy theorists, Blankenship says, who shared a pre-war statement from US president Joe Biden, where he said there would be  an “end” to Nord Stream 2 if Russia invaded Ukraine . Since then, Russia and China have taken to  sharing unproven theories about the sabotage, the researcher says.

“Disinformation actors, but also official representatives of the [Russian] regime, stepped up their efforts on every news story that was published on this—however contradictory about the origins of the blast—be it a blog post by Seymour Hersh or a  New York Times article,” says Peter Stano, an EU spokesperson, adding most disinformation narratives have circled around the idea that “the US is to blame.” The EU’s disinformation monitoring project, EUvsDisinfo, has  flagged more than 150 pieces of disinformation linked to the Nord Stream explosions, including those building on Hersh’s story. “EUvsDisinfo experts also found that Moscow considers the recent materials in German-language media a hoax,” Stano says.

While OSINT is helping to provide bits of extra detail on the claims about the Nord Stream attacks, it is likely that reports debunking dubious claims reach fewer people than disinformation or claims that are hard to verify. “It does not nearly get the same level of engagement,” Blankenship says. “You can have a book’s worth of evidence for it, and they would still find a way to discount it.”

And while OSINT research can answer some questions, it has its limits and can also raise new ones. Kaarsbo, the former Danish intelligence official, and other experts have pointed out that the Andromeda is a relatively small yacht, and it may have been unable to carry the amount of explosives needed to blow the pipelines. “The Andromeda is quite likely a piece of the puzzle, but I don’t think it’s a bigger piece of the puzzle that everyone makes it out to be,” Alexander says. “I think there are a lot of the big pieces missing.” Detailed sonar imagery of the damaged pipes would help people to understand what happened underwater, Alexander adds.

Ultimately, there is still very little hard public evidence—either from governments or publicly available online—about who may have been behind the attacks. Behind closed doors, intelligence agencies likely have more data and theories on the potential culprits. However, investigators in Sweden and Denmark refused to comment on their progress, while Germany’s Office of the Federal Prosecutor confirmed it had searched a yacht and is continuing to examine for explosives. German officials have also said there could be a  chance of a “false flag” operation to smear Ukraine . And when the countries complete their investigations, there’s no guarantee they will publish their findings or evidence to back them up. The mystery continues.

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ANDROMEDA yacht was launched in 2015. This 107-meter-long beauty is one of the world’s biggest yachts . The exterior of the gorgeous sea vessel was designed by Oscar Mike Limited.

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Andromeda is a custom motor yacht launched in 2015 by Kleven in Hasundhornet, Norway.

Andromeda measures 107.00 metres in length. She has a gross tonnage of 7,000 tonnes.

Andromeda has a steel hull.

Her interior design is by H2 Yacht Design.

Andromeda also features naval architecture by Marin Teknikk.

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Andromeda has a top speed of 16.00 knots. .

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Andromeda accommodates up to 30 guests .

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Andromeda has a hull NB of 366.

Andromeda flies the flag of the Cayman Islands.

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Investigators skeptical of yacht’s role in Nord Stream bombing

Officials believe more than one vessel might have been involved in sabotaging the natural gas pipeline last year and wonder if a 50-foot sailing yacht that investigators scoured for clues could be a decoy.

After saboteurs severely damaged the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines last September, German officials zeroed in on a rented sailboat that appeared to have taken part in planting explosive devices deep below the surface of the Baltic Sea.

But after months of investigation, law enforcement officials now suspect that the 50-foot yacht, the Andromeda, was probably not the only vessel used in the audacious attack. They also say the boat may have been a decoy, put to sea to distract from the true perpetrators, who remain at large, according to officials with knowledge of an investigation led by Germany’s attorney general. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details about the active inquiry, including doubts about the Andromeda’s role that haven’t been previously reported.

Officials hope that the true purpose of Andromeda in the deep-sea demolition will provide further insight in a high-stakes, international whodunnit that could eventually lead to those responsible and explain their motives, which remain unclear.

U.S. and European officials said they still don’t know for sure who is behind the underwater attack. But several said they shared German skepticism that a crew of six people on one sailboat laid the hundreds of pounds of explosives that disabled Nord Stream 1 and part of Nord Stream 2, a newer set of pipelines that wasn’t yet delivering gas to customers.

Experts noted that while it was theoretically possible to place the explosives on the pipeline by hand, even skilled divers would be challenged submerging more than 200 feet to the seabed and slowly rising to the surface to allow time for their bodies to decompress.

Such an operation would have taken multiple dives, exposing the Andromeda to detection from nearby ships. The mission would have been easier to hide and pull off using remotely piloted underwater vehicles or small submarines, said diving and salvage experts who have worked in the area of the explosion, which features rough seas and heavy shipping traffic.

The German investigation has determined that traces of “military-grade” explosives found on a table inside the boat’s cabin match the batch of explosives used on the pipeline. Several officials doubted that skilled saboteurs would leave such glaring evidence of their guilt behind. They wonder if the explosive traces — collected months after the rented boat was returned to its owners — were meant to falsely lead investigators to the Andromeda as the vessel used in the attack.

“The question is whether the story with the sailboat is something to distract or only part of the picture,” said one person with knowledge of the investigation.

Still others allow that the bombers may simply have been sloppy.

“It doesn’t all fit,” a senior European security official said of the fragments of evidence. “But people can make mistakes.”

Suspicions turn to Poland and Ukraine

The German investigation has linked the yacht rental to a Polish company, which is in turn owned by a European company that’s connected to a prominent Ukrainian, fueling speculation from Berlin to Warsaw to Kyiv that a deep-pocketed partisan may have financed the operation. The identity of the Polish company and the Ukrainian individual, as well as his potential motive, remains unclear.

Based on the initial German findings, officials have been whispering about the potential involvement of the Polish or Ukrainian government in the attack. Poland arguably had a motive, some said, considering it has been among the most vocal critics of the Nord Stream project since it began in the late 1990s, warning that the pipelines, running from western Russia to Germany, would make Europe dependent on the Kremlin for energy.

Marcin Przydacz, the Polish president’s chief foreign policy adviser, urged caution about reaching conclusions from the initial evidence. He too shared the view that the Andromeda could be a red herring, but said it may have been planted by Moscow.

“This could be a Russian game to blame” Poland, Przydacz said in an interview at the presidential palace in Warsaw. “Poland had nothing to do with this [attack].”

Intelligence agencies have found no clear evidence that Russia, initially the prime suspect, was responsible.

Privately, former Polish government officials said that despite the country’s vehement opposition to Nord Stream and staunch support for arming Ukraine, they doubted that President Andrzej Duda would authorize an act that risked fracturing the alliance of nations that have come to Ukraine’s defense. Polish officials routinely refer to Ukraine’s conflict with Russia as “our war” and are fearful that if Russian President Vladimir Putin succeeds there, he would set his sights on Poland next.

Suspicion also has turned toward Ukraine as the culprit behind the Nord Stream bombings, based in part on intercepted communications of pro-Ukraine individuals discussing the possibility of carrying out an attack on the pipelines before the explosions, The Washington Post previously reported.

A senior Western security official with knowledge of the secretly gathered intelligence said the communications were only discovered after the bombing, when Western spy agencies began searching their records for insights.

“Ukraine absolutely did not participate in the attack on Nord Stream,” Mykhailo Podolyak, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said last month, questioning why his country would conduct an operation that “destabilizes the region and will divert attention from the war, which is categorically not beneficial to us.”

Those who suspect Ukrainian involvement said that disabling the pipeline could have been an effort to galvanize allied support in the face of Russian aggression, and particularly to strengthen German resolve. Germany had halted activated authorization for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline days before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Officials in the United States and Europe initially blamed Russia for the bombing. The country had already halted gas flows on Nord Stream 1, the older of the two sets of pipelines. That suggested that Moscow was willing to engage in a form of political blackmail with energy supplies.

One of the pair of Nord Stream 2 pipes remains intact. Both of the Nord Stream 1 lines were severed in the explosions on Sept. 26.

Some officials said that Ukrainian saboteurs or those from other countries acting in what they felt were Ukraine’s best interest could have attacked Nord Stream without Zelensky’s knowledge, arguing that he doesn’t have complete visibility into all the operations of his government or the military. That kind of plausible deniability could protect the celebrated leader and dampen the political fallout of a brazen attack tied to his country, these officials said.

No country has provided firm evidence tying the attacks to Ukraine, and a senior Biden administration official has cautioned that the intercepted communications of pro-Ukrainian actors are not conclusive.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius warned against making early conclusions as to who was responsible, suggesting that it might be a “false flag” operation, an idea echoed by other German politicians.

Roderich Kiesewetter, a German lawmaker who is part of a committee that was briefed last month by intelligence officials on the probe’s progress, said he believes that investigators have not yet communicated any results because the “evidence is far too thin.”

Kiesewetter said that unfounded speculation over the culprits could endanger cohesion in Europe. “We should continue to ask who had an interest in the detonation” and who “benefits from uncertainty and accusations,” he said.

Trail of breadcrumbs

As the Nord Stream mystery has turned into an international game of Clue, German investigators have scoured the Andromeda for leads. Officials first became interested in the vessel after the country’s domestic intelligence agency received a “very concrete tip” from a Western intelligence service that the boat may have been involved in the sabotage, according to a German security official, who declined to name the country that shared the information.

German authorities determined that the tip was credible and passed the information onto law enforcement officials, the official said.

The Andromeda left a virtual trail of breadcrumbs as it set off from a German port for the Baltic Sea, according to investigators.

Mola Yachting rented out the boat on Sept. 6 from Hohe Düne harbor in Warnemünde, a German port town on the Baltic, near Rostock, which is about 145 miles north of Berlin. The rental location is in plain sight of a huge vacation complex, home to a five-star hotel, seven restaurants and a high-end shopping area, with views across the harbor.

Investigators said the boat then traveled in a northeasterly direction, stopping in Hafendorf Wiek, or “Wiek harbor village,” on the northernmost part of Rügen island.

When a reporter from The Post visited in early March, the area had emptied out, save for the odd local dog-walker braving the biting temperatures. A half-dozen yachts bobbed in the water where the Andromeda is said to have been. “Investigators came [in] mid-January, and we helped them where we could,” said the harbor master, René Redmann.

“It wouldn’t be unusual for a boat setting off from Rostock with the destination of Bornholm to stop in Wiek,” Redmann noted, referring to a Danish island near the site of the Nord Stream explosion. Investigators believe that the Andromeda left Hafendorf Wiek and moored off the coast of the tiny island Christianso, near Bornholm.

A stop in Hafendork Wiek may have offered the Andromeda’s crew a final chance to stock up on supplies before heading to the explosion site.

“Lots of things are loaded on the boats … including groceries,” Redmann said. “Some people stop to tank up on fuel.” Redmann would not confirm that the Andromeda stopped there, citing the continuing law enforcement investigation. But he said he wouldn’t have any record of the crew’s identities, just the name of the boat, the number of people aboard and the type of vessel.

“Recording names of passengers is the job of the charter,” Redmann said.

Thomas Richter, co-owner of the charter company Mola, said that the search of the Andromeda took place in Dranske, on Rügen island, where the yacht was kept in winter storage. He declined to share further details.

‘Don’t talk about Nord Stream’

For all the intrigue around who bombed the pipeline, some Western officials are not so eager to find out.

At gatherings of European and NATO policymakers, officials have settled into a rhythm, said one senior European diplomat: “Don’t talk about Nord Stream.” Leaders see little benefit from digging too deeply and finding an uncomfortable answer, the diplomat said, echoing sentiments of several peers in other countries who said they would rather not have to deal with the possibility that Ukraine or allies were involved.

Even if there were a clear culprit, it would not likely stop the provision of arms to Ukraine, diminish the level of anger with Russia or alter the strategy of the war, these officials argued. The attack happened months ago and allies have continued to commit more and heavier weapons to the fight, which faces a pivotal period in the next few months.

Since no country is yet ruled out from having carried out the attack, officials said they were loath to share suspicions that could accidentally anger a friendly government that might have had a hand in bombing Nord Stream.

In the absence of concrete clues, an awkward silence has prevailed.

“It’s like a corpse at a family gathering,” the European diplomat said, reaching for a grim analogy. Everyone can see there’s a body lying there, but pretends things are normal. “It’s better not to know.”

Harris reported from Warsaw and Washington, Mekhennet from Berlin and Washington, Morris from Berlin, Birnbaum from Washington and Brady from Rügen and Rostock, Germany. Meg Kelly in Washington contributed to this report.

What to know about Ukraine’s counteroffensive

The latest: The Ukrainian military has launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive against occupying Russian forces , opening a crucial phase in the war aimed at restoring Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty and preserving Western support in its fight against Moscow.

The fight: Ukrainian troops have intensified their attacks on the front line in the southeast region, according to multiple individuals in the country’s armed forces, in a significant push toward Russian-occupied territory.

The front line: The Washington Post has mapped out the 600-mile front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces .

How you can help: Here are ways those in the United States can support the Ukrainian people as well as what people around the world have been donating.

Read our full coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war . Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for updates and exclusive video .

• How Russia learned from mistakes to slow Ukraine’s counteroffensive September 8, 2023 How Russia learned from mistakes to slow Ukraine’s counteroffensive September 8, 2023
• Before Prigozhin plane crash, Russia was preparing for life after Wagner August 28, 2023 Before Prigozhin plane crash, Russia was preparing for life after Wagner August 28, 2023
• Inside the Russian effort to build 6,000 attack drones with Iran’s help August 17, 2023 Inside the Russian effort to build 6,000 attack drones with Iran’s help August 17, 2023

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Andromeda (ex: Ulysses)

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ANDROMEDA yacht NOT for charter*

107.42m  /  352'5 | kleven | 2015 / 2017.

Owner & Guests

Cabin Configuration

• Previous Yacht

Special Features:

• Impressive 8,500nm range
• Generous pool
• Four VIP cabins
• DNV (Det Norske Veritas) ✠ 1A1 Passenger ship Clean COMF(C-3, V-1) E0 Ice(C) classification
• Interior design from H2 Yacht Design

The 107.42m/352'5" expedition yacht 'Andromeda' (ex. Ulysses) was built by Kleven in Norway at their Hasundhornet shipyard. Her interior is styled by English designer design house H2 Yacht Design and she was delivered to her owner in March 2016. This luxury vessel's exterior design is the work of Marinteknik Verkstads and she was last refitted in 2017.

Guest Accommodation

Andromeda has been designed to comfortably accommodate up to 30 guests in 15 suites comprising four VIP cabins. She is also capable of carrying up to 22 crew onboard to ensure a relaxed luxury yacht experience.

Onboard Comfort & Entertainment

Her features include beauty salon and air conditioning.

Range & Performance

Andromeda is built with a steel hull and aluminium superstructure, with teak decks. Andromeda comfortably cruises at 15 knots, reaches a maximum speed of 16 knots with a range of up to 8,500 nautical miles from her 470,000 litre fuel tanks. Her water tanks store around 309,000 Litres of fresh water. She was built to DNV (Det Norske Veritas) ✠ 1A1 Passenger ship Clean COMF(C-3, V-1) E0 Ice(C) classification society rules.

*Charter Andromeda Motor Yacht

Motor yacht Andromeda is currently not believed to be available for private Charter. To view similar yachts for charter , or contact your Yacht Charter Broker for information about renting a luxury charter yacht.

Andromeda Yacht Owner, Captain or marketing company

'Yacht Charter Fleet' is a free information service, if your yacht is available for charter please contact us with details and photos and we will update our records.

Andromeda Photos

NOTE to U.S. Customs & Border Protection

Specification

M/Y Andromeda

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ANDROMEDA is a 28.5 m Motor Yacht, built in Italy by Extra Yachts and delivered in 2023. She is one of 3 Extra X96 Triplex models.

Her top speed is 18.5 kn and her cruising speed is 15.0 kn and her power comes from three Volvo Penta diesel engines. She can accommodate up to 10 guests in 5 staterooms, with 5 crew members waiting on their every need. She has a gross tonnage of 199.0 GT and a 7.3 m beam.

She was designed by Francesco Guida , who also designed the interior. Francesco Guida has designed 29 yachts and designed the interior of 68 yachts for yachts above 24 metres.

ANDROMEDA is one of 5708 motor yachts in the 24-30m size range, and, compared to similarly sized motor yachts, her volume is 87.0 GT above the average.

ANDROMEDA is currently sailing under the Seychelles flag (along with a total of other 8 yachts). She is known to be an active superyacht and has most recently been spotted cruising near Croatia. For more information regarding ANDROMEDA's movements, find out more about BOAT Pro AIS .

Specifications

• Name: ANDROMEDA
• Yacht Type: Motor Yacht
• Yacht Subtype: Semi-displacement
• Model: Extra X96 Triplex
• Builder: Extra Yachts
• Exterior Designer: Francesco Guida
• Interior Designer: Francesco Guida

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