Russia Has No Ships to Complete the Nord Stream-2

Russia doesn’t have its own pipe-laying vessels, the United Shipbuilding Corporation explained. Building such a ship will take up to six years. Russia has no pipe-laying vessels that would make it possible to complete the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. This was stated by the head of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) Alexei Rakhmanov on Russia 24 TV channel on Tuesday, December 24. “There are no such ships that could set to work right now,” Rakhmanov stated. According to him, such ships are usually built for a specific project. At the same time, the head of the USC expressed confidence that Russia will be able to build its own pipe layer. It will take up to six years According to Alexei Rakhmanov’s estimates, this will take a total of up to six years: from one and a half to two years for design and three to four years for the construction itself. “It will be for us, as always, something done from scratch, so we probably won’t manage in less time, although, I recall, the Lenin icebreaker was built in three years,” Rakhmanov concluded. In December, the United States imposed sanctions on contractors involved in the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream projects. As a result, the Swiss company Allseas, the Nord Stream 2 pipe-layer, suspended work and withdrew its vessels from the gas pipeline construction zone. To complete the gas pipeline, builders have to lay 160 km of pipes. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on December 23 that Gazprom has alternative options for completing the construction. “It will take a little more time, but that’s no big deal. It’s all the question of months – a month forth, a month back, a couple more months,” Medvedev said. Own resources According to the Kommersant newspaper, Gazprom is able to complete the Nord Stream 2 project independently: it has its own pipe layer “Akademic Chersky”, but it is now in Nakhodka and will be able to arrive in the Baltic Sea no sooner than in a month. In addition, the Fortuna barge, owned by Mezhregiontruboprovodstroy company, participated in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 in 2018. Technically, this barge, which is only a few days away from the place of possible work, is also able to complete the construction, Kommersant noted.