Jan De Nul Group is ordering another XL cable-laying vessel, identical to the Fleeming Jenkin. The new vessel will be delivered in 2026 and has already been booked for its first projects.
Connecting Ireland with Wales, Crete with mainland Greece, the Orkney islands with mainland Scotland: these are just some of the subsea connections on Jan De Nul Group‘s record. These connections, via submarine cables, bring energy from offshore wind farms to land or to connect countries’ electricity grids. The new cable-laying vessel is to further support that transition.
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Fifth cable-layer
The new XL ship will be the fifth vessel in Jan De Nul Group’s cable-laying fleet. That fleet has installed 2500 kilometres of submarine cables in 25 countries over the past decade. They connected Crete to mainland Greece, for example, so that the island no longer has to rely on diesel generators to generate electricity. Those cables span a length of 135 kilometres and are located at depths of up to 1000 metres with a – to put it mildly – bitterly rough and challenging seabed.
Another high-profile project, was the installation of 1000 kilometres of cables to connect two islands off the coast of Abu Dhabi to the mainland. Currently, the group is also working on the Greenlink interconnector, linking the electricity grids of Ireland and Wales. And a further 2500 kilometres of cable routes are booked in the order book for the next few years.
Jan Van de Velde, director new building, Jan De Nul Group: ‘We are and remain a big believer in the transition to renewable energy. With this second XL cable-laying vessel, we continue to reinforce our pioneering role. Both vessels combine all the cable installation expertise we have built up over the past decade. The result are vessels that operate very efficiently and have a much smaller carbon footprint.’
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World’s largest and most advanced cable-laying vessels
Like the Fleeming Jenkin, the vessel will be 215 metres long and can transport 28,000 tonnes of cables. This will make them the largest capacity cable-laying vessels in the world.
Thanks to cutting-edge technology on both vessels, designed by Jan De Nul Group’s own specialists, they can lay cables in both shallow and ultra-deep waters up to 3000 metres. The vessels can handle cable tensions of up to 150 tonnes.
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Green technologies
Both vessels are equipped with Ultra-Low Emission vessel (ULEv) technology, an advanced dual exhaust filter system. This system removes up to 99 per cent of nanoparticles from emissions using a diesel particulate filter (DPF) and a selective catalytic reduction system (SCR) for NOx removal. The ULEv system also significantly reduces exhaust gas pollutants. Thanks to the ULEv system, the vessels comply with the strict European Stage V emission standards for inland waterway vessels. Moreover, the NOx emissions are reduced to such an extent that these vessels meet the even stricter EURO VI emission limits.
The hybrid power plant on board also contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions and optimal fuel usage. It combines the generators with a 2.5 MWh battery and drive technology, designed for peak load shaving, load smoothening, spinning reserve and optimised engine loading.
The vessels can be powered by biofuel and green methanol, which significantly reduce CO2 emissions.
Wouter Vermeersch, Offshore Cables Department at Jan De Nul Group: ‘At the time of ordering our cable-laying vessel Isaac Newton back in 2013, we changed the power cable installation market by introducing a vessel with higher carrying capacities than available on the market at that time. Yet, ten years later we continue our pioneering entrepreneurship with the world’s most advanced cable-laying vessels, including an unrivalled carrying capacity of 28,000 tonnes, the capability to install up to four cables at once and installation equipment to lay power cables in ultra-deep waters of up to 3000 metres.’
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Fleet expansion
The company previously invested in the jack-up installation vessel Voltaire and the crane vessel Les Alizés to install the latest generation of wind turbines and their foundations. Jan De Nul Group’s offshore installation fleet will thus count five powerful and diverse cable-laying vessels, two offshore jack-up installation vessels, three floating crane installation vessels, five rock installation vessels and two multipurpose vessels.
Picture: Jan De Nul’s fleet of cable laying vessels, with the Fleeming Jenkin and its sister ship, each with a cable-laying capacity of 28,000 tonnes, at least twice the capacity of any other cable-laying vessel currently available on the market.
Also read: Jan De Nul orders world’s largest cable-laying vessel
