The Nord Stream 2 operator has decided on the vessel that will complete the pipeline after the Swiss contractor left the project due to US sanctions, the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency reported. In a statement on Tuesday, it “suggested” that Nord Stream 2 AG, which is laying a gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, would use the Russian ship Akademik Chersky, reports Bloomberg.
The vessel "Akademik Chersky" is currently offshore the Russian Baltic port of Kaliningrad, according to vessel tracking data .
Gazprom and Nord Stream 2 AG have not yet commented on this statement of the regulator. The Swiss project company Nord Stream 2 AG announced on November 28 that it will resume construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in German waters on December 5, but did not specify which pipelayer would do this.
It is planned to lay a small section (2.6 km long) in the exclusive economic zone of Germany. The project company did not disclose the specific vessel that will do this, but stated that it was an anchor vessel. About 90% of the German section lies at a depth of less than 20 m, which does not imply the use of vessels with a dynamic (anchored) positioning system.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak last year mentioned the 150-meter Akademik Chersky as an option for completing the gas pipeline, but Gazprom is still holding back which vessel it will use. Neither Gazprom nor Nord Stream 2 commented on Germany's statements.
Russia is “doing everything it can” to complete the project, Elena Burmistrova, CEO of Gazprom's export division, said last month.
