Russian pipe-laying vessel arrives in Germany to complete Nord Stream 2
The Russian pipe-laying vessel Akademik Cherskiy arrived in Germany to complete the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
According to DW, on the evening of May 8, the ship entered the German port of Mukran, where the Nord Stream terminal is located.
Previously, the Swiss company Allseas was laying pipes for North Stream - 2. On December 21, 2019, Allseas halted work because of the threat of U.S. sanctions, leaving only 160 kilometers unfinished.
Russia plans to complete the Nord Stream using the ship Akademik Cherskiy.
Gazprom bought its own pipe-layer in 2015 to become independent of foreign contractors and sanctions risks in the construction of its new export pipelines. The ship arrived in Russia in 2017 and has since been modernized and upgraded at the Nakhodka ship repair plant.
In the summer of 2019, Akademik Cherskiy was first used by Gazprom at the Kirinskoye and Yuzhno-Kirinskoye field sites near Sakhalin.
Russia believes that Nord Stream 2 can be completed by the end of 2020.