The Russian pipe-laying barge Fortuna, capable of completing the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, and its owner on Tuesday, January 19, will come under new US sanctions, writes the German edition Handelsblatt.
The decision is based on the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which was recently tightened by Congress. As the newspaper notes, this is the first time since the confrontation over Nord Stream 2, when the United States not only threatens restrictive measures, but also introduces them.
The US Embassy in Germany declined to comment on the sanctions prior to their introduction, but indicated that they still expect Berlin to reconsider its attitude towards the pipeline from Russia.
However, it remains unclear how the sanctions against “Fortune” will operate. The standard set of banning transactions and blocking accounts will most likely not work, because the owner of the vessel has changed many times and, most likely, he is no longer worried about possible restrictions from foreign countries.