Maritime Market: Cable Layer Fleet Gains Scale, Scope
Accelerating demand for subsea power and telecoms cable network construction is fuelling major expansion of the world fleet of purpose-designed cable laying, maintenance and repair vessels.Driven by the growth of the offshore renewables sector and its advance into deeper waters, as well as by widening investment in cables connecting electrical grids in different countries, emergent generations of cable ship are distinguished by scale, productivity, and technological intensity. Ongoing geopolitical tensions are also giving a fillip to the development of subsea cable infrastructure, whereby concerns over energy security are being addressed through offshore wind energy and international interconnector projects, further extending the scope for specialized vessels.Belgian international construction and dredging group Jan De Nul is set to take cable ship capacity to a new highpoint with its 215-metre, Chinese-built Fleeming Jenkin. Scheduled for imminent introduction, the vessel brings an unrivalled 28,000-ton cable load intake to the market in a design also distinguished by the capability to operate on methanol fuel.The first of two sisters booked with China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) Haimen yard, the Fleeming Jenkin gives an added edge to competition for assignments in the electrical interconnector and offshore renewable energy sectors. The design’s overall scale facilitates lay jobs in both shallow and ultra-deep waters (down to 4,000 metres) over longer distances with fewer connections and allowing for HVDC cable bundling in a single operation.The ship’s home-grown medium-speed machinery emanates from the Ghent factory of Anglo Belgian Corporation (ABC). The five main gensets, feeding electrical energy to the propulsion units and maneuvering thrusters, are based on prime movers that will enable firing on methanol, biodiesel or hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) as well as diesel oil. The plant comprises four 12-cylinder DV36MeOH models plus an eight-cylinder DZDMeOH engine, for a maximum combined output of 30,600kW, with emission abatement achieved using SCR and DPF systems.Contributing to the efficiency and designated ultra-low emission vessel (ULEv) concept behind the new breed of cable layer is a hybrid power element featuring a 2.5MWh battery installation and related drive arrangement. The ESS is designed to confer peak shaving, load smoothing, spinning reserve, and optimized engine loading.Second-of-class William Thomson was put into the water in April 2026 and is expected to make her service debut by mid 2027.Meanwhile, a newbuild with a 23,000-tonne capacity for high-voltage (HV) cable is nearing completion in Norway to the account of Danish cable maker group NKT. Developed by Norwegian consultancy Salt Ship Design and due to enter service in 2027, the 177-metre NKT Eleonora will work in conjunction with the 140-metre NKT Victoria to connect offshore wind farms to the onshore grid, as part of a project led by Dutch-German transmission system operator TenneT.Subsea telecoms infrastructure builder OMS Group has two cable layers booked with Ulstein in Norway. (credit: Ulstein)Shipbuilding contractor VARD assigned hull fabrication to its Tulcea yard in Romania, and the vessel was subsequently towed to VARD Brattvaag’s premises in western Norway during July for the final phases of construction and outfitting. The building of the new fleet addition has progressed concurrently with the expansion of HV cable manufacturing facilities at NKT’s Swedish plant at Karlskrona.UK-based Global Marine, a specialist in subsea fiber-optic cable operations, has implemented a fleet development strategy, following-up the mid-2026 purchase of a 128-m Norwegian cable ship with an order for a 100-m newbuild. Nominated shipbuilder Colombo Dockyard has a growing reference list in the sector, and the vessel for Global Marine will be a customized version of a proven type from the portfolio of VARD Design.Conceived primarily to support the British company’s long-term telecoms cable maintenance contracts, while affording more capacity to capitalize on growing demand in the subsea cable market, the new ship will incorporate 1,800-ton of cable storage.She has been engineered with a strong focus on station-keeping capability, reduced energy consumption and resilience. The newbuild will host a hybrid power generating arrangement, melding the four main genset, diesel-electric system with a bank of batteries. Propulsive effect, maneuvering and position-holding precision will be delivered by way of two Azipod electric main propulsion units aft and two tunnel thrusters forward. The construction award to Colombo Dockyard is further testament to the Sri Lankan company’s prowess in penetrating a high-end segment of the international market. References to date include the 113-metre cable layer KDDI Cable Infinity, delivered to her Japanese owner in 2019, and the 100-metre cable layer and repair vessel Sophie Germain, completed in 2023 for Orange Marine of France. Two further newbuilds for the French concern are in hand at Colombo and scheduled to be handed over in March 2028 and January 2029, respectively. The Global Marine ship is expected to follow during the fourth quarter of 2029.The UK firm’s latest acquisition, the 25 year-old Normand Clipper (now CS Clipper), was formalized in June this year pursuant to the end of charter from Solstad Maritime. Encapsulating the VARD VS4125 design, the 128-metre vessel is arranged with two tanks that can hold 5,000t of cable.Malaysian subsea digital infrastructure company the OMS Group has four new cable layers under construction on the strength of ramped-up demand from the telecoms industry. Towards the end of December last, just one week after two newbuilds booked from IHC Offshore Energy were laid down at the Dutch group’s Vietnamese partner yard Pacific Shipbuilding, OMS sealed contracts with Norwegian designer and builder Ulstein for two further cable ships. The respective pairs, while distinct in design, will collectively constitute the Great-class.Danish cable maker NKT has a 23,000-tonne load capacity vessel in build for delivery next year. (credit: NKT).The vessels contracted from the Royal IHC Group are based on its proven Type 22 platform. Each incorporates two cable tanks of an aggregate 6,500-tonne capacity, dual firing lines enabling both lay and maintenance operations, and a plough trenching and cable burial capability to a depth of 3.3 metres. The 128-metre CS Genesis is planned for delivery in 2027, with sistership CS Triumph to follow in 2028.Each of the 130-metre Ulstein duo have also been specified with a maximum intake of 6,500-tonne of fiber optic cable and will employ the proprietary SX252 design featuring the innovative X-Bow configuration for enhanced seakeeping and motion reduction. Highlights of the system delivery from Ulstein Power & Control will be variable speed generator (VSG) technology and banks of batteries. Paris-based Nexans Group strengthened its subsea installation capability this year through the May commissioning of the Norwegian-built cable layer Nexans Electra. Constructed by Ulstein Verft to a Skipsteknisk design, the 150-metre Nexans Electra is a derivative of the technologically acclaimed Nexans Aurora, completed by the same shipbuilder in 2021.The DP3 newbuild, vested with a total cable capacity of 13,500-tonnes on three turntables, furthers the Aurora concept, having the wherewithal to lay up to four cables simultaneously, conducive to large-scale, time-critical schemes. Assigned to Nexans Marine Operations of Oslo, Nexans Electra fulfils new environmental goals through a hybrid power system and five Bergen B33:45L6A-driven main gensets able to run on bio diesel blends. The integrated ABB power and propulsion setup in closed-ring configuration affords high fault tolerance and optimized engine use in DP mode.Italy-headquartered Prysmian Group took delivery in July 2026 of a unique power cable burial tool produced in the UK and destined for utilization on the company’s latest deep-sea cable installation vessels Prysmian Monna Lisa and Prysmian Alessandro Volta.The heavy-duty plough is the first of two contracted from subsea engineering firm SMD in north-east England and provides the wherewithal for electric cable burial at a maximum five metres beneath mean seabed level.A Turkish yard is the cradle for a South Korean cable layer project, overseen by a Norwegian management company with recourse to a Norwegian design house. First steel was cut in June 2026 at Tersan Shipyard’s Yalova premises on LS Marine Solution’s 148-metre newbuild, scheduled for completion during the first half of 2028.Developed by Salt Ship Design, the vessel will provide a capability spanning high-voltage AC, high-voltage DC, and fiber optic cable. Having been responsible for the critical drawing approval stage, OSM Thome is now handling on-site construction supervision.The Korean ship forms part of a supply chain strategy implemented by parent organization LS Cable & Systems, which includes expansion of LS Greenlink, the US submarine cable manufacturing subsidiary on the Chesapeake Bay waterfront in Virginia. Persisting geopolitical instability along with energy transition goals look set to continue to expand the market for building and maintaining subsea infrastructure. Global Marine's newbuild from Colombo Dockyard will be tailored to fiber optic cable maintenance work. Credit: Global Marine