Vesselfinder: Ship aiming to finish N Stream-2 goes for upgrades

MOSCOW, Feb 10 (PRIME) -- Pipelaying vessel Akademik Chersky, which might complete construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, has left the Port of Nakhodka for Singapore, where it will arrive on February 22, according to data of Vesselfinder, seen by PRIME on February 9.

Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in December that Akademik Chersky could complete construction of the pipeline instead of Allseas, which stopped work on Nord Stream-2 in December 2019 after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a defense budget envisaging spending on counteraction against Russia in various areas, including sanctions against the Nord Stream-2. Novak said that the vessel had to be upgraded for the purpose.

The Nord Stream-2 project envisages construction of two lines of a natural gas pipeline with an annual capacity of up to 55 billion cubic meters, running from the Russian shore to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Russian gas giant Gazprom builds the pipeline together with Germany’s Uniper and Wintershall DEA, Royal Dutch Shell, Austria’s OMV, and France’s Engie.

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