Installation of Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline starts in Gulf of Finland

TALLINN – Solitaire, the pipelay vessel of Swiss company Allseas, started installing the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Gulf of Finland on Wednesday.

Solitaire has a length of 300 meters and a width of 41 meters and the vessel will lay the pipeline around the clock seven days a week, the company said. Altogether 420 employees can live aboard the vessel. The 12-meter-long and 24-ton pipes of the gas pipeline will be brought to Solitaire from the closest logistics centers in Kotka and Hanko and the pipes will be welded together on board the vessel, after which the welded connections will be tested and finally the pipeline will be laid at the bottom of the sea.

A survey vessel will carry out an inspection both before and after the pipeline is installed in order to make sure that the pipeline is in the right location.

There is a security zone of 1.85 kilometers or one nautical mile around the vessel installing the pipeline and a security zone of 500 meters or 0.3 nautical miles around the supply vessels Oceanic and Olympic Triton.

Information concerning possible navigation hindrances relevant for those moving at sea can be found in real time from Notices to Mariners, NAVTEX and VHF Radio. All security measures have been coordinated with the Finnish Transport Agency and the border guard. The installation of the pipeline is in accordance with the provisions of the national permit and supervision is carried out by national institutions.

Nord Stream 2 is to start transporting natural gas from Russia to Central Europe. The length of the gas pipeline is 1 , 230 kilometers and it will run along the utility line of the first Nord Stream gas pipeline built in 2012.

The capacity of the gas pipelines is 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. The pipeline should be ready for use at the beginning of 2020.