Nord Stream 2 Allowed to Use Anchored Pipelayers in Denmark

Nord Stream 2 AG, Russia's Gazprom-led company building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, has been granted permission from the Danish authorities to use pipelaying vessels with anchors instead of the dynamic-positioning ones.

The Danish Energy Agency has at the request of Nord Stream 2 AG made a decision to change the condition to use pipelaying vessels with self-positioning (DP pipe-laying vessels) in the construction permit for the Nord Stream 2 pipelines, which the Danish Energy Agency granted Nord Stream 2 AG on October 30, 2019.

"The change means that the company can use pipe-laying vessels with anchors, either independently or in combination with DP pipe-laying vessels," the Danish Energy Agency said.

In the decision, the Danish Energy Agency emphasized, among other things, that the remaining part of the pipelines to be constructed in Denmark is outside the area where bottom trawling, anchoring and seabed intervention are discouraged due to the risk posed by dumped chemical warfare agents.

• Nord Stream 2 Seeks Updated Permit to Complete Pipeline in Danish Waters

On June 5, 2020, Nord Stream 2 AG submitted a request to be able to use pipelaying vessels with anchors in connection with the construction of Nord Stream 2. Pipelaying vessels with anchors have been assessed in the environmental impact assessment for Nord Stream 2, but were not covered by the October 2019 permit.

The Nord Stream 2 project consists of two parallel pipelines with a total length of 1230 km for the transport of gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic sea.

The pipeline starts in Russia and passes through Finnish, Swedish, Danish, and German marine areas and makes landfall at the German coast. 

The pipeline will be able to transport 55 billion m3 of natural gas per year.

In Russia, Finland, Sweden, Germany, and Denmark the authorities have granted permits for the project, however, the project was last year impacted by the U.S. administration threatening sanctions against any contractor that would supply the vessels for the construction of the project, forcing the lead contractor Allseas to pull its vessels from the Nord Stream 2, driving the Nord Stream AG to look for other vessels solutions to complete the laying of the pipeline.