Van Oord orders low-emission cable-laying vessel

Van Oord has selected Norwegian shipbuilder Vard to construct and deliver a new low-emission cable-laying vessel to be used in support of offshore wind projects.

The Dutch-flagged, 130- by 28-metre vessel will be powered by engines designed to run on biofuel as well as other low-emission fuels currently under development. It will also have a large battery pack with shore charging capability.

The vessel will be DP2-capable and will be equipped with a below-deck cable carousel and a second carousel on deck, with a total cable-carrying capacity of 8,000 tonnes.

In addition to being deployed on inter-array grid and export cables of offshore wind projects, the vessel will also be able to install high voltage direct current cables as well as deploy Van Oord’s own remotely operated cable trenchers.