Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) has been awarded a LoI (Letter of Intent) in joint venture with Van Oord for rock placement services for the Nord Stream 2  project.

The award was made by the project developer Nord Stream 2 AG and is a part of the construction of the planned twin 1,200 kilometer gas pipelines running through the Baltic Sea, connecting Russia to Europe. The contract value is approximately EUR 250 million, with a 50% share for Boskalis. Contract details are expected to be finalized in the next few weeks.

Rock needs to be installed at specific locations along the pipeline route to level the seabed and to protect the pipelines. The contract scope includes the sourcing of rock from quarries in the Baltic region. The project will be executed in a 50/50 partnership and multiple specialized fallpipe vessels will be deployed in the period 2018-2019.

In the period 2010-2012 Boskalis was also contracted for the rock placement scope for the first Nord Stream project and also constructed the landfall in Germany.

Boskalis' strategy is aimed at benefitting from key macro-economic factors which drive worldwide demand in our markets: expansion of the global economy, increase in energy consumption, global population growth and the challenges that go hand in hand with climate change. This development emphasizes the need for infrastructure to accommodate the continued demand for natural gas.