A family-owned marine construction company from Belgium has just launched the world’s largest and most advanced cable-laying vessel in bid to reshape the global offshore energy industry.
Aalst-based Jan De Nul announced that its first XL cable-laying vessel (CLV), the Fleeming Jenkin, was unveiled at the CMHI Haimen shipyard in China’s Jiangsu province on October 21.
The ship reportedly boasts an unprecedented 28,000-tonne cable-carrying capacity, which makes it the largest vessel of its kind to date. It is designed to install subsea cables for high-capacity offshore wind farms and power grid connections.
Fleeming Jenkin is expected to play a great role in Europe’s transition to large-scale clean power transmission. Once operational in 2026, it will begin its first mission under Dutch-German grid operator TenneT’s 2GW programme.
The programme introduces a new generation of offshore connections capable of transmitting up to two gigawatts (GW) of electricity each, which is more than twice the capacity of existing systems.
Reshaping offshore power
The Fleeming Jenkin is expected to install more than 2,800km of subsea cables over a distance of more than 700 kilometres across the North Sea. This will help connect offshore wind farms to the mainland and strengthen Europe’s renewable energy network.
“The Fleeming Jenkin combines all the cable installation expertise we have built up over the past 15 years,” said Wouter Vermeersch, Jan De Nul’s director of subsea cables and offshore energy.
According to Vermeersch, the entire vessel and the technologies on board were made by the company’s in-house specialists. “The result is a vessel that operates very efficiently, reducing both the cost price and the ecological footprint of our projects.”
The vessel has a loading capacity of 28,000 tonnes, making it the world’s largest of its kind. Image: Jan De Nul.
The ship has three massive cable carousels, two of which positioned on the deck and one below. It can lay up to four cables simultaneously and can handle cable tensions up to 150 tonnes.
This, as per the company, is equivalent of the weight of the Statue of Liberty. It can additionally perform installations at depths reaching nearly 3,000 metres.
A new subsea infrastructure
Classified as an Ultra-Low Emission Vessel (ULEv), the new cable layer features a dual exhaust system that removes up to 99% of nanoparticle emissions.
In addition, its hybrid power plant integrates a 2.5-megawatt-hour (MWh) battery with generators capable of running on biofuel and green methanol. This will help significantly reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.
“The Fleeming Jenkin and her twin vessel William Thomson are the best vessels on the market for installing interconnection cables that connect energy grids over longer distances,” said Vermeersch.
“These connections are crucial for building a reliable energy network based on renewable energy,” Vermeersch concluded in a press release.
As per the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity, an estimated €400bn will be required by 2050 to develop Europe’s offshore energy transmission infrastructure. The Fleeming Jenkin is set to play a critical role in this effort
The company also revealed plans for a new subsea rock installation vessel (SRIV), named George W. Goethals, to meet the rising global demand for safeguarding underwater infrastructure. Designed to transport over 30,000 tonnes of material, it marks the firm’s third subsea rock installation vessel.