because of it the Russian ship was released on 10 Feb, going to Europe, as is reasonably believed, to lay the pipe on the remaining section of the gas pipeline in the Baltic sea. For three months, virtually nothing has changed, except that the “academic left” is already just a few days away from the place of work. The recent announcement that the ship on 1 July will arrive to Nakhodka, many discouraged, but hardly baffled.
the title of the most likely candidate for the end of construction pipe layer was not accidental. That “Chersky” able to build “Nord stream-2” was made by the head of the energy Ministry of Russia Alexander Novak, avoiding, however, any specifics. It is also avoided in the company 2 the Nord Stream AG, the operator of the pipeline construction, which on request “RG” said that “plans will be reported in due course.”
the Path of the Russian pipelayers from the very beginning was shrouded in mystery. The end points of its travel indicated ports in Singapore, India, Madagascar, the Canary Islands, in Scotland and twice in Egypt. And now having sailed half the globe “Academic Chersky” indicated next to their destination Discovery. The pipelay stubbornly continues moving North, getting closer already to the exit of the English channel between France and England, as evidenced by data from numerous portals of determining the location of ships. For the completion of the gas pipeline “the Plan” have to be refit to work with the pipe diameter of the “Nord stream-2”. You can do it in Kaliningrad, where the Russian ship, even if not especially in a hurry, can arrive in 6-7 days.
Options, why “Academic Chersky” so confuses their tracks can be many, but it is likely to make opponents of the construction of the pipeline, no reason to stop laying. To delay the ship need a reason. Considering the already imposed sanctions of the US against the construction of “Nord stream-2” to declare publicly that “the academic plan” should be for the completion of the pipeline is to give a chance to try even more to hurt the project if we cannot stop it. It is clear that the arrest of the vessel would have caused a huge scandal, but would lead to the loss of a few months, if not more.
Other alternatives to complete the construction of the “Nord stream-2” in Russia yet. Foreign company to complete the work can’t because of U.S. sanctions, which expressly prohibit further pipe-laying gas pipeline in the Baltic sea. Take the advantage of China, if he were not afraid of US sanctions, did not work. Even assuming that China is necessary for the completion of the court, the balance of power interfered with the coronavirus pandemic, which made it impossible for such a widemasshtabnye joint projects. And now the time is lost.
on our side, except “Chersky”, there are two pipelay – barge “Fortuna” and “defender”, but they don’t have on-Board dynamic positioning system, is registered, as required in construction agreement with the Danes. “If they can be retrofit, that would have worked, but we see that with them nothing happens. “Fortuna” is laid in Germany and is waiting for the arrival of the Chersky”,- said the expert-analyst of the Institute of technology development of the energy sector (IRTAC) Sergey Alexashkin. In his opinion, an indirect confirmation of participation “Chersky” completion “of Severna thread-2”, is that in the voyage he is accompanied by the ships of the Russian Navy – patrol ship “Yaroslav the Wise”, tug “Nikolay Chiker” and tanker “Yelnya”. I believe that all the rhetoric about “of Finds … to Find” nothing more than an attempt to maximum delay time and to insure against the introduction of possible sanctions mechanisms the United States, said Sergei Alexashkin.
Another important nuance is that a specified time return to the Find to 1 July 2020, it is hardly achievable for a Russian vessel. At shortest route from the English channel in Discovery, through the Suez canal the journey would take at least 45-50 days. For this “Plan” will need to overcome without a single delay all the Straits, to go by day and night at the highest possible speed (22 km / h). Why put such records is unclear. For comparison, the current voyage of the “academic left” has continued for 77 days. And yet it moves farther North to the entrance to the Baltic sea.
