Earlier this year, Jan De Nul ordered a sister vessel of the Fleeming Jenkin. With their three carousels and cable-carrying capacity of 28,000 tonnes, the sister vessels will be the largest cable-laying vessels in the world. The company has now revealed the latest vessel’s name: William Thomson.
Thomson (1824 – 1907), later also known as Lord Kelvin, was a brilliant physicist, played a crucial role in the success of the transatlantic telegraph cable, helped lay the foundations of electromagnetic theory and was a great enthusiast of sea travel. He paved the way for the modern offshore cable industry.
The new vessel will be an identical copy of the previously ordered Fleeming Jenkin. The vessels will be the largest of their kind in the world, a scale-up that is needed to realise the global transition to renewable energy, according to Jan De Nul.
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William Thomson and Fleeming Jenkin meet again
As the names of the sister vessels, William Thomson and Fleeming Jenkin will often be mentioned together. However, their connection dates back to the past. Both scientists knew each other well, largely due to their shared interest in electrical engineering and submarine telegraphy. They exchanged ideas, collaborated on various projects, and influenced each other’s work. Besides Thomson, Jenkin also worked on the transatlantic telegraph cable.
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XL cable-laying vessel
With the cable-laying vessels Fleeming Jenkin and William Thomson, Jan De Nul seeks to strengthen its pioneering role in the transition to renewable energy. Thanks to their cutting-edge technology, both vessels can lay cables in shallow and ultra-deep waters up to 3000 metres. With their unrivalled cable-carrying capacity of 28,000 tonnes, they can also lay cables over longer distances with fewer subsea connections. In turn, the three carousels allow HVDC cables to be installed bundled in one go.
All this puts Feeming Jenkin and William Thomson in a perfect position to connect countries and continents with high energy production with those that have high energy needs. This will allow maximum exchange and thus utilisation of green power, an important step in the global energy transition.
