OREANDA-NEWS. On 05 March 2009 was announced, that Vyksa Steel Works (VSW, Nizhni Novgorod Region), part of United Metallurgical Company (OMK), dispatched its 100th, since the beginning of such shipments, tonne of large-diameter pipes (LDP) for the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which will run across the bed of the Baltic Sea.

VSW started manufacturing and delivering pipes for Nord Stream in late May 2008. The agreement specifies that until October 2009 VSW is obliged to deliver a total of 267 thousand tonnes of pipes (with external corrosion-resistant coating and internal corrosion-resistant and friction-reducing coating) of 1,219 mm in diameter made of K60 (X70) strength grade steel. For Nord Stream, in addition to LDP with wall thicknesses of 30.9 mm and 34.6 mm that have been supplied since last year, it is planned to start manufacturing pipes with the largest wall thickness of 41 mm, which is unique for pipes of such diameter and grade.

The subsea gas pipeline Nord Stream will run from Russia to Greifswald, Germany, and connect Russian gas fields with the EU countries. The capacity of Nord Stream's first line of 1,220 km will be 27.5 billion cu m a year, while the second line will increase the capacity up to 55 billion cu m a year.

The agreement for delivery of pipes for the construction of the first line of the subsea gas pipeline was signed between the operator of the Nord Stream project, Nord Stream AG, and OMK on November 6, 2007. Prior to that, OMK had been selected as a preferred bidder in an international bidding, whose other participants included leading German and Japanese LDP manufacturers. Based on the bidding results, OMK secured 25% of the entire order volume and became Russia's first pipe supplier for a major international project.

During 2006-2007, VSW produced LDP designed for subsea pipeline systems in accordance with the standard of Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Norway, and was granted certificates of compliance with the requirements of DNV-OS-F101 and the Nord Stream project specification. The Company became Russia's and CIS's first qualified producer of pipes according to DNV-OS-F101, which is the world's reference standard applied for the installation of oil and gas pipelines of enhanced quality, wear-resisting properties, and endurance on continental shelves throughout the world.