South Stream Transport B.V. has awarded the Swiss-based Allseas a contract to lay the first line of the TurkStream offshore gas pipeline in the Black Sea, with an option for laying the second line.
According to the contract, Allseas is to lay more than 900 km of pipes on the seabed.
Allseas will engage the world’s largest construction vessel Pioneering Spirit for the job. Pioneering Spirit is equipped with pipelay equipment that makes it possible to install record weight pipelines from shallow to ultra-deep water, and has an S-lay tension capacity of 2000 tonnes.
The vessel, currently in the Alexiahaven in Rotterdam, is equipped with a double-joint factory, six welding stations for double joints and six coating stations.
Allseas will start laying the first line in the second half of 2017.
Since July last year, Russian gas giant Gazprom has been on the lookout for a potential new contractor for the first line of TurkStream after it failed to reach an agreement with the Milan-based Saipem, at that time the main contractor for South Stream pipe laying activities with two deals worth 2.4 billion euros.