Copenhagen (AFP)
The Russian ship, which is due to be completed, has arrived Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project In the Danish waters of the Baltic Sea, to the region despite the threat of new US sanctions, according to what several platforms for monitoring maritime traffic indicated on Sunday.
The Russian “Fortuna” vessel intended for laying the pipelines, which left Germany several days ago, is about 15 nautical miles (28 km) south of the Danish island of Bornholm, according to the general data of the tracking platforms.
Several operating support ships, also Russian, are in the vicinity, according to the Vesselfinder and Maritime Traffic platforms.
In this region, barely outside the Danish territorial waters, but in the exclusive economic zone of the Scandinavian country, the “Danish” route of the gas pipeline passes, according to the plans published by Nord Stream, which is owned by the giant Russian “Gazprom” company.
At the beginning of December, work resumed on this project, which cost more than 9 billion euros and extends 1,200 km of pipelines in German waters, after being suspended for nearly a year due to US sanctions.
The Danish authorities allowed Nord Stream to resume work in its waters, from January 15th.
However, the executing agency of the project indicated a “preparatory” stage before resuming work, amid doubts regarding the transfer of power between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Washington and many European countries, such as Poland, do not look with satisfaction at this new gas pipeline, which will double the capacity of the already operational Nord Stream 1, considering that it will lead to Germany and the European Union dependence on Russian gas, and thus on Moscow.
Last week, before Joe Biden took office, Berlin announced that Washington had informed it that US sanctions would target “Fortuna”.
The pipeline is virtually complete, and the bulk of the remaining work is in Danish waters.
Nord Stream 2 includes two parallel pipelines, according to the Danish Energy Authority, and the missing part in its water for one of the tubes is 69.2 km and 49.6 km for the second.
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