Norwegian Ulstein Verft has announced that on last Tuesday has entered into a contract on the construction of a large DP3 cable laying vessel for Nexans Marine Operations AS, part of the 120 years old French-headquartered Nexans Group.
The vessel ordered is an ST-297 CLV design by Norwegian ship designer Skipsteknisk, and she is an updated version of the cable laying vessel Nexans Aurora which Ulstein Verft delivered in 2021.
Ulstein states that this new cable laying vessel is specially designed to carry out the transport and laying of various types of subsea cables, including cable bundles as well as recovery and repair, which therefore features a split turntable on deck capable of holding up to 10,000t of cable, an under-deck turntable with a 3,500t cable capacity, and a fibre optic basket holding 450t.
The vessel measures 31 metres in width, 149.9 metres in length, and is accommodated for a crew of 90, as the company mentions.
Pascal Radue, Nexans EVP Generation & Transmission, says that “We awarded the contract for a new vessel to Ulstein after an extensive tendering process, where Ulstein’s track record, including the delivery of Nexans Aurora, was important factors in deciding on the shipyard Ulstein Verft yet again. We are looking forward to working with Ulstein for this new exciting project.”
Cathrine Kristiseter Marti, CEO Ulstein Group states to the new order that “Ulstein is excited to see Nexans return to Ulstein Verft for the construction of a new cable laying vessel. In 2021, we delivered the Nexans Aurora on time despite the challenges we faced with handling the Covid pandemic. This adds to our long history of delivering vessels to the agreed quality and time. We look forward to continuing our close collaboration with Nexans and are very pleased that Nexans again trusts Ulstein Verft with the new addition to its fleet.”
