A U.S. Navy reconnaissance aircraft flew near the site of the ruptured Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea hours after the first damage emerged, according to tracking reviewed by Reuters, a flight Washington said was routine.

Russia's Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines burst on September 26, draining gas into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark and Sweden. Seismologists registered explosions in the area, and police in several countries have launched investigations.

Flight data showed a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance plane was over the North Sea at 0003 GMT when Swedish seismologists registered what they later described as a subsea blast southeast of Bornholm Island in the Baltic Sea.

The plane, which had flown from Iceland, performed a pattern of regular racetrack-shaped circuits over Poland before breaking away towards the Baltic pipeline area, data showed.

The identity of the plane could not immediately be established because of the type of rotating identification code sometimes used by such planes, but the U.S. Navy confirmed it was an American aircraft when presented with data by Reuters.

"The U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft shown in the tracking data conducted a routine Baltic Sea maritime reconnaissance flight, unrelated to the leaks from the Nord Stream pipelines," a U.S. Navy spokesperson said.

Asked if any of the intelligence gathered might help investigators looking into the pipeline ruptures, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa spokesperson, Capt. Tamara Lawrence said: "We do not have any additional information to provide at this time."

It's unclear what role, if any, the U.S. military is playing to aid European investigations into the ruptures of the pipelines, although President Joe Biden has spoken about eventually sending down divers.