Page 8 - FSUOGM Week 06 2020

FSUOGM PIPELINES & TRANSPORT FSUOGM Source: Gazprom Flot.
Russia’s sole pipe-laying vessel heads to Singapore
RUSSIA
KEY FACTS:
• Russia has said the Akademik Cherskiy is its best option for completing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
• The vessel is bound for Singapore, after a contractor was selected to provide it with new equipment.
• Nord Stream 2’s launch has been pushed back to late 2020/early 2021.
RUSSIA’S one and only pipe-laying vessel, the Akademik Cherskiy, left on the Far Eastern port of Nakhodka late on February 9, on a course for Singapore, according to ship-tracking service Vesselfinder.
The Gazprom-owned vessel, which Russia has previously said will be used to complete its delayed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, is due to arrive at its destination on February 22, the data shows.
Work on Nord Stream 2 ground to a halt at the end of December after the US imposed sanctions that would penalise any international contractors helping with its construction. Swiss- based Allseas promptly suspended all pipelaying activities and has said it has no plans to return to the project.
Only around 160 km of the combined 2,640- km length of Nord Stream 2’s two strings remains to be built. Akademik Cherskiy, Russian authori- ties claim, is capable of finishing the pipeline.
Akademik Cherskiy was originally built in 2015 at the Jiangsu Hantong Ship Heavy Indus- try yard in Tongzhou, China. It was acquired by Gazprom the following year as a last resort in case European companies stopped working on Nord Stream 2.
Exactly why the vessel is bound for Singapore is unclear. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in December that the ship would need “additional preparation” in order to work on Nord Stream 2. Singapore is the site of several major shipyards.
According to a state procurement website, Gazprom on February 10 selected an unnamed contractor to equip Akademik Cherskiy with welding and other technical equipment. But rather than Nord Stream 2, Gazprom’s tender documents indicated that the purpose of the upgrades was to prepare the vessel for work at the Kirinskoye and South-Kirinskoye gas fields off Sakhalin Island.
Nord Stream 2, initially scheduled for launch by the end of last year, is now expected online no earlier than late 2020 or early 2021, Russian Pres- ident Vladimir Putin revealed in January. At full capacity it will flow up to 55bn cubic metres per year of gas to Germany, helping Russia reduce its reliance on Ukraine as a transit route.
The introduction of US sanctions is one of a number of setbacks the $10bn project has faced. Earlier, construction was held up by Denmark’s delay in issuing the necessary permits for the sec- tion through Danish waters. ™
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Week 06 12•February•2020