A complex game of cat-and-mouse is playing out in the chill waters off Bornholm, a Danish island in the Baltic Sea. A flotilla of Russian boats, stripped of the usual international service and logistics support, is trying to complete the construction of Nord Stream 2 (NS2), a 1,230-km (765-mile) gas pipeline that would double capacity from Russia to Germany. Less than 150 km remain to be built, mainly in Danish waters. Meanwhile, the American government, armed with ever-growing secondary-sanctions legislation, is watching closely, picking off companies it suspects of involvement in the construction of NS2. The pipeline’s fate depends on the outcome of this race.
The Economist: Why Germany won’t kill Nord Stream 2
Gas pipes bound for the Russian pipe laying vessel Akademik Cherskiy (not in picture) that is moored in the port of Mukran near Sassnitz on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen, north-Eastern Germany, are pictured on Sept. 7, 2020, as the ship waits to continue pipe laying works for the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline.
