End of subsea construction phase for German pipeline

ABL Group has completed the marine warranty survey scope related to the installation of Germany’s Ostsee Anbindungsleitung (OAL) subsea pipeline, where the first gas feed-in is expected soon.

GASCADE Gastransport contracted ABL to provide marine warranty survey (MWS) services to supervise the transportation and installation (T&I) operations related to the 50-kilometer-long 48-inch (121.9 cm) subsea pipeline.

The pipeline connects the LNG terminal in the port of Mukran with the German pipeline network in Lubmin, and it is also set to be used to feed green hydrogen into the German grid by the Mukran entry point.

“OAL is an important energy infrastructure project which strengthens the security of gas supply in Germany and across Europe. ABL has a long history acting as marine warranty surveyor as well as engineering and marine consultant for the installation of some of the world’s most significant subsea pipeline projects. We are very pleased to lend our expertise to support this project offshore Germany,” said Sergio Leone, ABL’s MWS tender and project manager for the OAL pipeline project. 

The recent completion of the above-water tie-in marks the end of the subsea construction phase, signifying the successful and timely construction of the OAL. 

“This means that the ambitious goal of enabling gas feed-ins into this pipeline in the winter of 2023/24 has been achieved. This is the contribution we can make as a transmission system operator to improving German and European security of supply and its resilience to crises. Despite a very ambitious schedule, we managed to complete the OAL in record time. My sincere thanks go to all those involved in the implementation,” said Ulrich Benterbusch, Managing Director of GASCADE.

ABL’s Hamburg-based team coordinated the day-to-day management of the project, where the European network supported the onsite attendance, including using consultants from ABL Germany, Holland, Norway, and France. 

To remind, in August 2023 Sapiem was awarded a contract by GASCADE Gastransport to execute the pipelaying of the Ostsee Anbidungsleitung in the Pomeranian Bay in north-eastern Germany.

The Italian firm’s activities entail the transportation and installation of a 48” gas line of around 50 km, from the Lubmin site, in northern Germany on the Baltic Sea, to the Mukran port, along the east coast of the Rügen island, and the construction of landfalls, utilizing its Castoro 10 pipelay barge.