Gazprom has resumed pipelay of the 55-billion cu m/year Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline running between Russia and Germany in the Baltic Sea. Russian pipelaying vessel Fortuna last week arrived at a construction site 70 km off the German coast, accompanied by two supply ships.
“Fortuna will lay a 2.6-km section of the pipeline in Germany's exclusive economic zone in waters less than 30 m (100 ft) deep. All the construction work is being carried out in full compliance with the approvals obtained. We will report on further construction work in the offshore section at a later date," Nord Stream 2 AG said.
Gazprom decided to itself finish Nord Stream 2 construction after Allseas Group SA withdrew from the project in December 2019 due to threatened US sanctions. The twin 1,230-km pipelines are 94% built.
Work in German waters is expected to continue through Dec. 31. The bulk of remaining construction is in Denmark’s exclusive economic zone near the island of Bornholm.
