Poland demands Nord Stream 2 to be buried under the seabed. “It will impede development of Polish ports”

Last Friday in the town of Straslund in northern Germany, a Polish delegation justified their concerns about Nord Stream 2 construction to German officials. The meeting took place in the local Mining Office. According to the Polish Radio’s unofficial sources Poland demands that the gas pipeline be buried below the seabed. The Nord Stream 2 consortium does not intend to comply. 

A participant of the meeting in Straslung told the Polish Radio that Poland presented specific arguments for burying the pipeline underground. The representatives of the Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports Authority explained that placing the pipelines on the seabed where Nord Stream 2 will cross with the northern entrance to the Polish harbors will make it impossible to expand the container terminal in Świnoujście. The Polish representatives presented the plans to develop the Świnoujście harbor to which ships with deep draught will need access. The development of the port depends on putting the pipeline beneath the seabed.

The representatives of the Nord Stream 2 consortium rejected the Polish demands and explained that the level of water above the pipeline makes free movement of ships possible. According to the Polish Radio nobody from the Nord Stream 2 consortium was able to explain on the basis of what measurements these calculations had been made.