German environmental organizations Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) and the German Union for Conservation of Nature and Biodiversity (NABU) have protested the issuance of a permit for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. On Monday, January 18, the Hamburg-based Federal Agency for Maritime Shipping and Hydrography confirmed to dpa and Reuters that it had received an environmental appeal. In this regard, the permit to work in German territorial waters is temporarily suspended, indicated below.
On January 15, the department issued a permit for the further construction of the Nord Stream 2 in German waters. The previous permit would not have allowed work to begin until the end of May. In response, environmentalists announced their intention to challenge the decision of the authorities.
Pipe-laying work was suspended in December 2019 due to US sanctions against European contractors. The Russian pipe-laying vessel "Academician Chersky " arrived from Nakhodka to the German port of Mukran back in May 2020, but the Danish authorities banned any construction work in the area of Bornholm Island, explaining this by spawning of cod. In December 2020, work resumed, shortly before the New Year, pipes were laid on a 2.6 km section in the special economic zone of Germany.
The construction of "Nord Stream 2 " has caused heated discussions in a number of countries. In particular, the United States points to the threat of EU dependence on Russian gas. After the high-profile poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, discussions began in Germany and Europe about the possible imposition of sanctions affecting the gas pipeline under construction.
The US Congress has included penalties in the FY2021 defense budget for facilitating the sale, lease, or provision of pipe-lay vessels for the construction of the pipeline, and for providing insurance coverage for vessels involved in construction.
