Jan De Nul expands subsea cable fleet with new trenching vessel

Jan De Nul is expanding its subsea energy cable installation and protection fleet by ordering a second trenching support vessel. This newbuild will be an exact copy of the Isambard K. Brunel, which was announced in March.

The vessel, designed by Ulstein and to be built at the China Merchants Heavy Industry shipyard, will be capable of burying cables in the seabed up to five meters deep. It will feature ultra-low emission (ULEv) technology, allowing it to run on biofuel and with future readiness for methanol.

With this order, Jan De Nul currently has five vessels under construction for subsea cable services. This fleet includes two XL cable-laying vessels, an XL rock installation vessel, and two cable-burying vessels. The company aims to bring its total fleet for the installation and protection of subsea cables to 14 vessels.