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Gazprom’s Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipeline resumed work in Danish waters on Saturday, defying U.S. sanctions.
“The pipelay vessel Fortuna has started pipelay works on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in Denmark’s Exclusive Economic Zone today, following the start of works in the construction corridor there on 24 January and successful completion of sea trials,” a Nord Stream 2 spokesperson said via email.
Some 75 kilometers of pipe are left to be laid on the 1,200-kilometer project, in German and mostly Danish territory.
Nord Stream 2 had initially said construction would resume in Danish waters on January 15. But that date came and went.
On January 18, then-U.S. President Donald Trump preemptively hit the project’s hired Russian ship with sanctions before leaving office under the 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, branding the vessel “blocked property.”
A second, expanded set of U.S. sanctions passed in January is triggered the moment Fortuna begins laying pipe in Danish waters.
These additional measures target any entity providing the ship with port facilities, equipment upgrades, insurance, inspection or other services, causing Norwegian certifier DNV GL to cut ties with the project “while sanctions are in place.”
Nord Stream 2 added that “all works are performed in line with relevant permits” and that the company would “provide further information about the construction works and further planning in due time.”
Construction in German waters is currently frozen due to an administrative challenge to Nord Stream2 ‘s federal permit, filed by NGO Deutsche Umwelthilfe.
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