Gazprom is approaching completion of the last kilometers of Nord Stream 2
Direct evidence has emerged that the Akademik Chersky pipelayer is conducting tests near Kaliningrad to further resume construction of the last 160-kilometer section of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
A PolitNavigator correspondent reports this, Kommersant writes, citing data from MarineTraffic.
“The pipe layer “Akademik Chersky” is in the sea opposite the Curonian Spit in the “limited maneuverability” mode. It moved to this point on October 1 and stopped on October 8, leaving for the first time since May the logistics base of the Nord Stream 2 project in the German port of Mukran, where pipes are stored to complete the construction of the last 160-kilometer section of the gas pipeline,” the article notes.
In addition, a supply vessel has been drifting near the Akademik Chersky for several days, the current status of which is conducting tests.” Also near the pipelayer are two supply vessels of the Marine Rescue Service - the Baltic Explorer and the Umka, which arrived in Kaliningrad in August, and before that participated in the construction of the Baltic gas pipeline.
“Supply vessels must deliver pipes to pipelayers; Gazprom is now forced to use only its own fleet and cannot hire foreign vessels due to US sanctions,” the publication recalls.
It is also noted that the United States is threatening new sanctions to stop the project, and therefore Gazprom will likely try to complete the physical laying of the pipe as quickly as possible.
According to Sergei Kapitonov, an analyst at the Skolkovo Energy Center, using the entire Russian side’s fleet of pipelayers to complete both strings of the gas pipeline will require at least three, but rather up to five months of pure operating time.
At the same time, the current moment, according to the expert, is not the best for construction, since stormy season begins in the Baltic in autumn and winter. It was decided not to carry out hydraulic tests of the gas pipeline, Kapitonov added, so commissioning may take one to two months.
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