Nord Stream 2 AG the project developer of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline through the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany awarded Wasco Coatings Germany GmbH the contract for concrete weight coating, storage and logistics of the 200,000 pipes required for the project. Wasco has now awarded Blue Water Shipping A/S of Esbjerg, Denmark, a contract for the transport, handling and storage of 113,000 of the pipes. The remaining 87,000 pipes are shipped directly from the coating facilities to the pipelay vessels.
Blue Water Shipping’s contract covers sea transport of pipes from Wasco’s coating facilities in Mukran, Germany and Kotka, Finland to storage yards in Karlshamn, Sweden and Hanko, Finland. This part of the project will cover about 475 shipments by coaster vessels. Blue Water’s scope includes loading the pipes, transport to storage yards, operation of the storage yards – and finally loading of the feeder vessels transferring the pipes to the pipelay vessels from AllSeas
After an international tender in which five companies participated, Wasco awarded the 40 million EUR contract to Blue Water’s Headquarters in Denmark. Blue Water will also involve the company’s local offices in Sweden, Finland and Germany as well as local subcontractors in Sweden and Finland.
“We are very proud to have won this contract. Over the years, we have built a strong position as a specialist in managing and executing projects with logistical challenges. We have comprehensive experience with port operations including the management and operation of temporary facilities. We are looking forward to the cooperation with Wasco and Nord Stream 2”, states Kurt Skov, CEO and Founder of Blue Water Shipping.
Blue Water will work in close cooperation with Wasco on this large project. Wasco will coat each of the 200,000 high-density steel pipes with concrete – doubling the weight of the 12-metre pipes to 24 tons per pipe on average. The first shipment of pipes is planned to commence in July.
“We are excited to work with Blue Water and we are confident that the company will be able to support us in ensuring the success of the Nord Stream 2 project”, says Rik Nugteren, Project Director of Wasco Coatings Germany GmbH.
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 become one of the world’s longest offshore natural gas pipelines and will have the capacity to transport up to 55 billion cubic metres of gas per year from Russia to Europe, connecting with pipelines within the European Union for onwards transmission.
Nord Stream 2’s logistics concept is based on the use of logistics hubs located in ports around the Baltic Sea. The project-related operations will provide a positive economic impact on the ports and subcontractors and contribute to long-term development.
“With Blue Water another first-class company from the Baltic Sea region has joined our international infrastructure project,” says Henning Kothe, Nord Stream 2 AG’s Project Director. “This latest contract brings the total contractual commitments on the Nord Stream 2 project to over €4 billion, involving more than 200 companies from 17 countries, most of them coming from Europe. The project is progressing according to schedule.”
Image Source: Blue Water