"The Fortuna vessel has started work on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Danish waters ... Work is underway in accordance with the received arrangements," the statement said.
The US Department of Treasury on Tuesday imposed sanctions on the vessel and its owner KVT-Rus for building the Nord Stream 2 gas-exporting route. Sanctions have also been imposed by the Treasury Department on the Russian oil tanker Maksim Gorki, Rustanker and the associated Sierra oil tanker.
Earlier, the new head of Germany's ruling Christian Democratic Union, Armin Laschet, said that the execution of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project should not rely on the political situation with Russia, namely with the detention of Alexey Navalny, the Russian opposition figure.
The Nord Stream 2 project envisages the construction of two gas pipelines with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to Germany. The project is actively opposed by the US, which is promoting its liquefied natural gas to the EU, as well as Ukraine and a number of European countries. In December 2019, the US imposed sanctions against the gas pipeline, as a result of which the Swiss-based Allseas Group was forced to stop laying pipe, eventually resuming construction last year.