Media: Norwegian Equinor will check the underwater gas pipeline to Germany

MOSCOW, 7 Oct — PRIME. The Norwegian energy company Equinor sent an oilfield service vessel to inspect the Europipe II gas pipeline going to Germany after the emergency at Nord Stream, Reuters reports, citing sources and tracking data from Refinitiv vessels.

“Norway sent a specialized vessel to inspect an underwater gas pipeline to Germany for security reasons after an alleged sabotage last month on the two Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany,” the sources told the agency.

Havila Subsea, an oilfield service vessel equipped with remotely operated underwater vehicles, was sent on October 5 to survey the Europipe II gas pipeline that runs from the Kaarstoe gas plant in Norway to Dornum in Germany, according to Refinitiv vessel tracking data seen by Reuters.

The chief executive of Norway’s Reach Subsea, which specializes in subsea services, Jostein Alendal confirmed to the agency that the inspection was commissioned by Equinor, which inspects gas pipelines on behalf of the Norwegian state-owned gas transmission company Gassco.

The Europipe II gas pipeline, 658 kilometers long, has a capacity of 71 million cubic meters of gas per day, which is about a fifth of Norway’s total gas pipeline exports.

The energy group Equinor was founded in 1972, until May 2018 it was called Statoil. The company operates in more than 30 countries. The largest shareholder is Norway.