Russian pipelay vessel Fortuna, which is a candidate to complete the construction of the Nord Stream 2 project, has entered the Danish waters but is now moving away from the island of Bornholm, where the unfinished section of the gas pipeline is located, online ship-tracking websites show
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th July, 2020) Russian pipelay vessel Fortuna, which is a candidate to complete the construction of the Nord Stream 2 project, has entered the Danish waters but is now moving away from the island of Bornholm, where the unfinished section of the gas pipeline is located, online ship-tracking websites show.
According to Myshiptracking, the vessel left the German port of Mukran, where pipes for the Nord stream 2 construction are stored, on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday morning, it entered the Danish part of the Baltic Sea.
Sputnik has yet to receive comments from Nord Stream 2 AG, the project's operator.
The news comes after Denmark gave Nord Stream 2 AG a permit to use anchored vessels to build the pipeline in its waters, as the remaining part of the pipeline is being laid outside the area where the kingdom discourages anchoring and other seabed intervention due to risks associated with dumped wartime chemical hazards. The previous permit allowed the company to use only ships with dynamic positioning systems.
The pipelaying process can resume no earlier than August 3, when the appeal period for this decision ends.
The project will then be able to use anchored pipe-laying vessels in combination with dynamic positioning ships. Fortuna, a multi-purpose anchored pipelay barge owned by Russian pipeline construction company MRTS, and Akademik Cherskiy, a dynamically positioned pipelay ship, can be used to complete the project.
In December, the US' Nord Stream 2 sanctions forced Swiss pipelay company Allseas to quit the project with just 100 miles of the pipeline left to lay. Russia is now finishing the pipeline on its own.
