Pipelaying Vessel for South Stream to Dock at Burgas

The South Stream Transport JV has said a pipelaying ship is expected to berth at the Bulgarian port of Burgas on Sunday for works relating to the Moscow-backed gas pipeline.

Bulgaria’s BTA news agency quoted South Stream Transport B.V. as saying in a statement the Castoro Sei pipelaying vessel would be used to prepare construction of the pipeline, including the welding of pipes for the Russian shallow water section. The vessel will remain in Burgas until the end of October.

South Stream Transport B.V. is an international joint venture company of Russia’s Gazprom, Italy’s ENI, France’s EDF and Germany’s Wintershall Holding.

The news of the expected arrival of the pipelaying vessel comes less than a month after Bulgaria’s caretaker government ordered South Stream Bulgaria, a company equally owned by state-run Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and Russia's Gazprom, to suspend all public procurement activities and not sign contracts related to the project.

In June, the European Commission launched an infringement procedure against Bulgaria over the way the country is handling the South Stream and demanded construction works be frozen until the project complies with the EU law.

The first batch of pipes for the Bulgarian section of the South Stream gas pipeline was delivered to the Port of Varna on August 14. More pipes have been delivered since then.