The Dutch-Swiss company Allseas has withdrawn from the Baltic Sea. The company is halting work on the construction of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. All ships and personnel have now left the area.
The specialized company is retreating under pressure from the United States. The Americans threatened sanctions against companies working on the Russian gas pipeline, which provides a direct connection between Russia and Germany.
The Americans fear that Russia will gain too much influence in Western Europe this way, as the country gains control over an increasingly large share of the European gas market. Additionally, the US itself is producing more and more natural gas that it also wants to sell in Europe.
Allseas, a Dutch-Swiss offshore company, was working in the Baltic Sea with two large pipe-laying vessels and several support vessels. About 1000 employees were active on the ships.
This is the largest pipe-laying project Allseas has ever worked on. Approximately 2,300 kilometers of pipe were to be laid on the 1,222-kilometer route. It is therefore the longest underwater pipeline in the world.
Nord Stream 2 is intended to double the capacity of the first pipeline on the bottom of the Baltic Sea and to transport up to 55 billion cubic meters of additional Russian gas annually to northern Germany. From there, the gas continues to consumers throughout Europe.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that the American sanctions do not mean a 'catastrophe' and that the pipeline can be put into operation within a few months. The Russian gas company Gazprom has alternatives to complete the pipeline. Gazprom has assigned the Akademik Cherskiy, a 150-meter pipe-laying ship, the task of continuing the construction. The Akademik Cherskiy is significantly smaller than Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit and still has to finish a job in East Asia.
The gas pipeline is expected to be completed by the end of 2020. The German government condemned the US threat of sanctions, which the Germans regard as serious interference in internal affairs.