Russian pipe-laying vessel the Akademik Cherskiy has been reportedly anchored off the Mukran Port in Germany and is set to continue to complete the construction of the pipeline. The vessel departed from the Sea of Japan in February and circumnavigated the globe to reach the Baltic Sea.
Satellite images further on Wednesday showed that the Akademik Cherskiy, along with a Russian pipe-laying-crane ship and a dredging vessel had moved next to the vicinity of the island of Ruegen, a key logistics centre for Nord Stream 2. BloombergNEF estimated that Akademik Cherskiy needed to complete only about 6% of the pipeline so the gas delivery could by the end of 2020.
The Nord Stream 2 is built to increase the flow of Russian gas into Europe. The construction was near complete five months ago when US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the nearly €10 billion ($11 billion) project, forcing the previous pipe-laying ship operator to withdraw. The US urged its European allies to cut dependence on Russia and instead purchase its LNG.
The pipeline operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, which is owned by Russia’s Gazprom PJSC and financed by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Uniper SE, Wintershall AG, Engie SA, and OMV AG, said the sanction sanctions is unlawful discrimination against European companies. Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller also said that exports via the pipeline might start by the end of 2020.
