Begium-based Jan De Nul announced that it plans to add to its cable-laying fleet to serve demands from the transition to renewable energy.

A press release said that the new XL ship will be the fifth vessel in Jan De Nul Group’s cable-laying fleet that has installed 2,500 km of submarine cables in 25 countries over the past decade. It notes that its projects include connecting Crete to mainland Greece, a span of 135 km at depths to 1,000 m, with “to put it mildly, bitterly rough and challenging seabed.”

The company has bookings for installing 2,500 km of cable that led to the order for a new XL cable-laying vessel. “With this second XL cable-laying vessel, we continue to reinforce our pioneering role,” said Jan Van de Velde, director new building, Jan De Nul Group.

Like the Fleeming Jenkin, the vessel will be 215 m long, designed to transport 28,000 tons of cables, the largest capacity cable-laying vessels in the world. The vessels can lay cables in both shallow and ultra-deep waters up to 3,000 meters, handling cable tensions of up to 150 tons.

Both vessels are equipped with Ultra-Low Emission vessel (ULEv) technology, an advanced dual exhaust filter system. This system removes up to 99% of nanoparticles from emissions using a diesel particulate filter (DPF) and a selective catalytic reduction system (SCR) for NOx removal. The ULEv system also significantly reduces exhaust gas pollutants. Thanks to the ULEv system, the vessels comply with the strict European Stage V emission standards for inland waterway vessels.