South Stream Transport has signed a contract with the Allseas Group to lay the second line of the South Stream Offshore Pipeline. In addition, the Company has signed a contract with Saipem for the provision of complementary works for Line 2.
The South Stream Offshore Pipeline will consist of four parallel gas pipelines of 931 kilometres across the Black Sea. In March 2014, the Italian company Saipem was contracted to perform the offshore laying of the first line and construct the landfalls and shallow-water parts for all four pipelines.
According to the newly signed contracts:
– Allseas will lay almost 900 km of offshore pipe to complete the second line. The Swiss-based company plans to use the new vessel Pieter Schelte for the job. With a total length of 477 metres and 6 welding and coating stations, the vessel is the biggest of its kind.
– Saipem will provide additional works for the laying of the second line. This includes engineering, coordination of storage yards, cable crossing preparations, and connecting the offshore pipeline to the landfall sections through so-called ‘tie-ins’.
Allseas will start laying of the second line in the summer of 2015 while Saipem will be laying Line 1. Line 2 will be taken into operations by the end of 2016.
Press Release, April 30, 2014; Image: South Stream Transport