The Russian ship that is to complete the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline began work in Danish Baltic Sea waters on Sunday evening, Nord Stream 2 announced. The "Fortuna
(...)
pipeline installer
has started work on resume construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Danish waters
, ”the company said in a statement sent to AFP.
"
All work is taking place in accordance with the authorizations received,
" said the press release.
Read also: Does the Navalny affair sign the death of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline?
In early December, work on this project of more than 9 billion euros and 1,200 kilometers of submarine link had resumed in German waters, after being suspended for nearly a year due to US sanctions.
Nord Stream had been authorized by the Danish authorities to resume work in its waters, from January 15.
But the operator had mentioned a "
preparatory
"
phase
before the resumption of work, against a background of uncertainty related to the transfer of power between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Departing from Germany in recent days, the
Fortuna
, a Russian-flagged pipeline installer, was on Sunday evening some 15 nautical miles (about 28 kilometers) south of the Danish island of Bornholm, according to several maritime tracing applications. .
Several offshore work support vessels, also Russian, are currently in its immediate vicinity, according to the Vesselfinder and Maritime Traffic applications.
It is in this sector, just outside Danish territorial waters but in the exclusive economic zone of the Scandinavian country, that the “
Danish
”
route
of the pipeline
passes
, according to the plans disseminated by Nord Stream, majority owned by the giant Russian gas company Gazprom.
Almost completed pipeline
Washington and several European countries such as Poland take a dim view of this new gas pipeline, which will double Nord Stream 1 already in operation, believing that it will increase German and European Union dependence on gas. Russian.
Last week, just before Joe Biden took office, Berlin said it had been informed by Washington that the
Fortuna
would be targeted by US sanctions.
The pipeline is almost finished and the bulk of the remaining work is in Danish waters.
Nord Stream 2 actually comprises two parallel pipelines.
According to the Danish energy authority, its waters are 69.2 kilometers long for one of the pipelines and 49.6 kilometers for the second.