Anchor-positioned pipe-laying ships (in addition to ships with dynamic positioning) will be able to be used on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 highway in the Danish Exclusive Economic Zone, according to the Danish Energy Agency.
The Agency stressed “that the remaining part of the pipeline to be built in Denmark is outside the area where bottom trawling, anchor-winding and bottom works are not recommended due to the risk posed by buried warfare chemicals.
Nord Stream 2 AG, in turn, noted: “Nord Stream 2 AG has submitted a request to amend the construction permit in accordance with the recommendations of the Danish Energy Agency (DEA). As we expected, the DEA has granted our request”.
“The amendment relates only to the possible use of anchor-positioned vessels and is an explanation of only one of the conditions of the permit. The anchor-positioned vessel has already been successfully used for the Danish section of the operational Nord Stream Pipeline as well as for the construction of the Nord Stream-2 section in German waters. The project will be implemented in accordance with the construction permit and environmental impact assessment (EIA). We continue to consider various options for its completion and will inform about our plans in due course”, – said the project company.
Construction of the highway by European contractors has been halted due to U.S. sanctions and, as stated in Gazprom, “the Nord Stream 2 project, which has already been built by almost 94%, will be completed by the Russian side.
At the moment, two Russian pipe-laying vessels are standing in the German port of Mukran near the route of the remaining section of the highway: the “Academician Chersky” with dynamic positioning and the “Fortune” with anchor.