Solitaire completes Baltic Sea pipelay assignment

Aug. 15, 2011
Allseas’ Solitaire has completed its installation work on Line 2 of the Nord Stream gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea.

Offshore staff

ZUG, Switzerland – Allseas’ Solitaire has completed its installation work on Line 2 of the Nord Stream gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea.

The vessel laid 342.5 km (213 mi) of each of the parallel pipelines through the Gulf of Finland.

Nord Stream’s Construction Director Ruurd Hoekstra said: “The Solitaire is a dynamically positioned vessel which operates without anchors, so only the pipeline itself touches the seabed along the agreed route.

“This was crucial for us in the Gulf of Finland with its historic lines of mines and congested sea lanes. Using the Solitaire helped us to minimize the impact on the environment and marine traffic and in this section the safety zone around the pipe-laying could be much smaller.”

The first of Nord Stream’s twin 1,224-km (760-mi) pipelines was completed in June and is currently in the final stages of pre-commissioning. Gas should start flowing through the pipeline in 4Q 2011.

Line 1 will have capacity to transport 27.5 bcm/yr (971 bcf/yr) of gas to mainland Europe. The second line should become operational in late 2012, doubling the transport capacity to 55 bcm (1.9 tcf).

08/15/2011