MOSCOW, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Russia may use a vessel currently
docked at a far eastern port to finish the Nord Stream 2 gas
pipeline to Germany, Russia's energy minister Alexander Novak
told reporters on Friday.
The Swiss-Dutch company Allseas, which was laying the
pipeline, suspended work after the United States imposed
sanctions on Nord Stream 2. All that remains to be completed is
a 160 km (100 mile) stretch near the Danish island of Bornholm.
Novak did not name the vessel. In 2016, Gazprom bought a
special pipe-laying vessel called Academic Cherskiy which is now
in the Russian Pacific port of Nakhodka.
It would take about 45 days for Cherskiy to reach the
Bornholm area via the Suez Canal or about 37 days using Northern
Sea Route in the Russian Arctic, though it would need to be
accompanied by an icebreaker.
Novak also said Nord Stream 2 was expected to be launched
before the end of 2020.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Olesya Astakhova; Writing
by Katya Golubkova; Editing by David Clarke)