Survey work win for Nord Stream

Published 08.03.2010 14:57:48 by John Bradbury

Aberdeen-based NCS Survey has landed a deal to provide shallow water survey services to main contractor to Saipem during the installation of an offshore section of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

NCS, based in the Westhill part of the city, has been contracted to provide a real-time sonar Touchdown Monitoring System for installation of a shallow water section of the gas pipeline in water depths of less than 50 metres (164 ft), which eliminates the need for an ROV to monitor the pipeline as it hits the seabed.

Commencing mid-year, the work contract from Saipem is worth between €2 and €3 million to NCS.

“The TDM system has gained rapid acceptance in the industry as it eliminates the need for a DP2 class ROV Support Vessel on pipe and cable lay projects in water depths less than 50m,” explained Andy Gray, chief executive of NCS Survey.

“It enables the contractor to know exactly where the pipe is laid in real-time and thereby minimises the risk when laying near any subsea structures or other live pipelines even when there is zero visibility,” Gray added.

Construction work on the huge new twin gas pipeline system is due to commence next month after Nord Stream AG – the project company established to manage the pipeline – received a final consent in February to build a section of the offshore pipeline crossing the Baltic Sea within a 374 km (233 mile) section of Finland's Exclusive Economic Zone.

That permit complete the jigsaw of permissions necessary for the construction of the offshore section of the 1,223 km (764-mile) line which will carry up to 55 Bcm of gas a year from Russia into the European gas market via the Baltic Sea, commencing in 2011.

Apart from Finland, Nord Stream passes through territorial waters of Russia, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, with the offshore route running from Vyborg in Russia, to Greifswald in Germany.

Russia's Gazprom owns 51% of Nord Stream AG, Germany's BASF/Wintershall and E.ON Ruhrgas each own 20% and Gasunie of The Netherlands owns 9% of the company.

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