Russian vessel Fortuna, which is potentially able to complete the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, has departed from the German port of Mukran in the Baltic Sea, days after Denmark gave the project the green light, data from Refinitiv Eikon showed on Wednesday.
The data showed that Fortuna left Mukran, where pipes for the Nord Stream 2 are stored, Tuesday and is now moving in Danish waters. Fortuna is a pipe-lay crane vessel that was built in 2010 and is sailing under the Russian flag.
Russian gas giant Gazprom, which leads the project, and Nord Stream 2’s operational company declined to comment.
Another Russian vessel, Akademik Cherskiy, which also able to lay pipes, is moored near Mukran.
Nord Stream 2 has been suspending construction of the pipeline after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions in December on the pipeline.
The Danish Energy Agency said on Monday it would allow the Gazprom-led project to use pipe-laying vessels with anchors instead of the more advanced vessels using self-positioning technology, which are affected by U.S. sanctions.
Swiss-Dutch company Allseas, which was laying the pipeline using two vessels - Pioneering Spirit and Solitaire - had halted work to avoid U.S. sanctions.
Construction of the 1,230-kilometer pipeline is nearly finished but it needs to complete a final stretch of roughly 120-kilometres in Danish waters.
(Reuters, July 8, 2020).
