Gazprom's offshore pipe-laying vessel Akademik Chersky, the only existing tool for completing the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, is approaching its likely destination - one of the Russian shipyards on the Baltic coast.
A PolitNavigator correspondent reports that Yuri Barsukov, a columnist specializing in energy issues, writes about this on the pages of Kommersant.
He also draws attention to the fact that along most of the route, starting from the Far Eastern Nakhodka, the ship was accompanied by warships of the Russian Navy.
“Such obvious guardianship obviously indicates the strategic importance of Academician Chersky. The ship, on its way from the Far East to Northern Europe, even decided to go around Africa rather than take the much shorter route through the Suez Canal, that is, stick to international waters. Based on this, I come to the conclusion that it is Akademik Chersky that will complete Nord Stream 2, otherwise the precautionary measures look unnecessary,” the observer believes.
He also writes that in its current form the ship is not ready for laying Nord Stream 2 pipes with a diameter of 48 inches, and therefore will have to undergo modernization. At the same time, the company that deals with it is threatened with US sanctions.
“We can only assume that the upcoming work on the vessel will expand its capabilities somewhat more than provided for in the tender documentation, and at the same time will not expose the pipelayer and the shipyard to the risk of sanctions even before the modernization is completed. In any case, Gazprom has time - given the extremely low demand for gas in Europe, the company will have a real need for Nord Stream 2 no earlier than the first quarter of 2021,” sums up Barsukov.
As PolitNavigator reported, a pipelayer of the Swiss company Allseas, which previously worked on the Nord Stream 2 project, stopped working after the United States imposed sanctions on the project.