General – Launch
Recently, Jan De Nul has launched its first XL cable-laying vessel (CLV), Fleeming Jenkin, with the final vessel construction phase now starting, including sea trials.
Wouter Vermeersch, Director Subsea Cables Offshore Energy at Jan De Nul said: “The Fleeming Jenkin combines all the cable installation expertise we have built up over the past fifteen years. The entire vessel and the technologies on board were designed by our 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 launch took place by flooding the dry dock at the China Merchants Heavy Industry Haimen shipyard in China.
Once operational in the second half of 2026, the CLV will immediately start its first assignment for TenneT, where it will install export cables on four 2 GW offshore wind grid connections, bundling and laying four cables together. This represents over 2,800 kilometres of cable being installed over a distance of more than 700 kilometres.
