In this May 8, 2017 file photo steel pipes for the North Stream 2 pipeline are uploaded in Mukran harbour in Sassnitz, Germany. (DPA via AP)
MOSCOW, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The second pipelay vessel has started work on the German section of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, the project's operator Nord Stream 2 AG company said Saturday.
The Audacia vessel operated by the Allseas company has begun pipe laying work in the project, along with the Castoro Deici (C10) vessel, the company said in a statement.
Audacia began work at the end point of a 30-kilometer trench for the twin pipeline located in Germany's territorial waters and will have to lay pipes for two lines, according to the company, which is owned by Russia's Public Joint Stock Company (PJSC) Gazprom, the world's largest supplier of natural gas.
All the work on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Germany's territorial waters is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, the statement said.
Russia's Nord Stream 2 project includes the construction of two gas pipelines with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Russia to Europe.
It will expand the existing Nord Stream main gas pipeline by linking Russia and Germany via the Baltic seabed, bypassing Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and other eastern European and Baltic countries.