Akademik Cherskiy pipelaying vessel arrives at Nord Stream 2 construction site

Russia's Akademik Cherskiy vessel has arrived at the construction site to lay pipes for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, Nord Stream 2 AG, project operator company said.

"We inform you that the Akademik Cherskiy vessel arrived at the point of construction," the company noted.

The ship was stationed in the Baltic Sea in Russia’s Kaliningrad Region where it was going through maintenance. In the afternoon on March 30, the vessel headed to the northwest of the Kaliningrad Region shores. Nord Stream 2 AG then reported that the Akademik Cherskiy is sailing into Danish waters where it will get ready to continue laying pipes for Nord Stream 2, TASS reported.

Another Russian vessel, Fortuna, is currently engaged in the gas pipeline construction in the Danish territorial waters. In December 2020, the Fortuna built 2.6 kilometers of Nord Stream 2 in the German exclusive economic zone.

The Nord Stream 2 project includes construction of two pipelines with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. The work was suspended in December 2019 after Swiss Allseas abandoned pipe-laying due to possible US sanctions. However, construction resumed in 2020 after a year-long pause.