The Pioneering Spirit vessel, which will carry out the construction
of the TurkStream natural gas pipeline's offshore section, transited
Istanbul’s Bosphorus on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Transport,
Maritime and Communications suspended international two-way marine
traffic on the Bosphorus due to the crossing of the 382-meter-long and
124-meter-wide vessel which is expected to arrive in Anapa on the
northern Black Sea coast in Russia on June 2.
Officials from
Allseas -- the vessel’s Swiss owner -- told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday
that the vessel's final destination would be Anapa where the first
pipe-laying for the TurkStream project will start.
Shipping data revealed that the Maltese-flagged departed from the Netherlands on May 13.
The
pipes for the TurkSteam will start from Anapa and will be laid over a
900-kilometer route under the Black Sea to reach the Thrace region of
Turkey along the Black Sea coast.
The TurkStream pipeline is a
transit-free export gas pipeline which will not only stretch across the
Black Sea from Russia to Turkey but will further extend to Turkey's
border with neighboring countries.
One line is expected to supply
the Turkish market, while a second line will carry gas to southern and
southeastern Europe. Each line will have the throughput capacity of
15.75 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
(Anadolu Agency)