Scientists now believe they are a step closer to understanding one of the greatest mysteries of the world, Bermuda Triangle, which gulps aircraft and ships.

This belief has been established with the discovery of a series of underwater craters at the bottom of the Barents Sea, off the coast of Norway, News Corp reports.

While the location is not close to the Bermuda Triangle, which stretches from Florida to Puerto Rico and the mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda, it is hoped that the craters are the key for explaining the bewildering phenomenon.

The craters, measured up to 800 metres wide and 45m deep, are believed to have been created by methane building up in sediments on the sea-floor of the gas-rich Norway coast, which then leak, "popping" through the sea bed and into the water above.

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According to researchers from the Arctic University of Norway, the crater areas represent one of the largest hot spots for shallow marine methane release in the Arctic, which creates enormous blowouts of gas bubbles, leading to sinking of ships.

Last year, this possibility was explored by Russian scientist Igor Yeltsov, who said that the Bermuda Triangle is a consequence of gas hydrates reactions.

He went on explaining that the reaction happens in an avalanche-like way, like a nuclear reaction, producing huge amounts of gas.

Details of the discovery will be released at the annual meeting of the European Geosciences Union next month, where experts will analyse whether these kind of bubbles could place ships in danger.