First batch of coated Nord Stream 2 pipes arrives in Finland

The first concrete weight coated (CWC) pipes for the planned 1,200-kilometer Nord Stream 2 twin pipelines have been delivered by rail at the Port of Koverhar in Hanko, Finland.

Nord Stream 2 AG, the Gazprom-owned company developing the pipeline, said that approximately 200 kilometers of CWC pipes would be transported by train to Koverhar between mid-July and the third quarter of 2017.

The pipes will be stored in the port until the start of pipeline construction in 2018.

These consignments of CWC pipes produced by ChelPipe in Russia are delivered on trains with 63 wagons each carrying three 12-metre, 24-tonne pipes.

The main CWC pipe deliveries to the Port of Koverhar will be made by sea on vessels transporting the pipes from the coating plant in Kotka operated by Nord Stream 2’s logistics partner Wasco. These deliveries will start in the third quarter of 2017.

The Port of Koverhar in Hanko will serve as one of the four logistics hubs to be used for the Nord Stream 2 project. Altogether 30 percent of the 204,000 pipes needed to construct the pipelines will be stored at Koverhar before being transported to the pipe-lay vessels during construction. Wasco’s operations will employ up to 50 people for the duration of the project.

The two 1,200-km Nord Stream 2 pipelines will mostly follow the route of the existing Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea – from the coast of Russia to Greifswald on Germany’s northern coast. It will have the capacity to transport up to 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Russia to Europe, connecting with pipelines within the European Union for onwards transmission.

To remind, Wasco Coatings began concrete weight coating pipes last week for the project in the port of Mukran on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen, Germany.

On the same day, it was announced that the Dutch energy and dredging services provider Boskalis had been awarded a letter of intent in a joint venture with Van Oord for rock placement services for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.