Off course: a vessel mapping a route for the Nord Stream subsea gas pipe strayed in Finland's territorial waters in November
Nord Stream vessel 'strays'
A survey vessel mapping a route for the planned Nord Stream gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea strayed into Finnish territorial waters in November, the consortium said.
Nord Stream, majority owned by Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom, is carrying out environmental studies for the the 1200 kilometre pipeline under the Baltic Sea from Russian to Germany.
Finland and other countries around the Baltic sea have raised ecological and other concerns about the project, with some pointing out the possible security risk from the strategic pipeline, which will deepen Europe's already-heavy dependence on Russian gas.
Finland has allowed Nord Stream to conduct studies in its economic zone in the Baltic Sea, but not in its territorial waters, which are closer to the coast.
"On 24 November a ship of our subcontractor, Marin Matteknik, which was exploring the sea bed crossed over the border into the Finnish waters by accident," Nord Stream spokesman Sebastian Sass said on Saturday, Reuters reported. After a few hours Finnish coast guards called off the studies.
Gazprom, which had planned to start gas supplies via Nord Stream in 2010, has warned the project could face delays amid objections over the project's safety from Baltic Sea states.
"It was an unfortunate event caused by a technical mistake," Sass said, citing unclarity over maps used at the vessel.
Nord Stream is expected to ship 27.5 billion cubic metres of gas per year from 2010, with a second pipeline to double its capacity to 55 Bcm.
Gazprom owns 51% of Nord Stream, with German companies BASF and E.ON owning 20% each, and Dutch Gasunie 9%.