Germany issued permission on Monday for...

The permission was issued by Germany"s Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency in Hamburg. Earlier, Germany permitted the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in its territorial wasters.

Nord Stream AG, the project operator, has already received permits from Denmark, Sweden and Russia through whose waters the pipeline will pass, and also the Finnish exclusive economic zone permit and a permit for the 50-kilometer (31-mile) section of the pipeline in German territorial waters and landfall in Lubmin near Greifswald.

Nord Stream AG only has to obtain the second and final permit from Finland for the project"s construction.

"We are firmly on schedule to start construction of the pipeline in spring 2010 and to start transporting gas in 2011", Nord Stream"s managing director, Matthias Warnig, said.

Nord Stream will be 1,220 kilometers (758 miles) long and will consist of two parallel lines. The first leg, with a carrying capacity of around 27.5 billion

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