Nexans’ new cable-lay vessel reaches another milestone

The vessel will be completed at Ulstein Verft in Norway, with the blocks currently being assembled at Crist in Poland.

Nexans Norway chief executive Ragnhild Katteland said, “Construction of this ground-breaking cable-laying vessel is a major milestone in our company’s long-term strategy in the energy market, and with the ceremony we are one step further.”

Ulstein Verft will carry out the final outfitting, commissioning and testing prior to the vessel’s delivery in 2021.

With a 10,000-tonne capacity split turntable, the DP3 cable-laying vessel will be outfitted for power cable-laying, including bundle laying, cable jointing and repair and cable system protection and trenching. The vessel will work in the offshore wind, interconnector and offshore oil and gas sectors, was designed for operations in difficult weather conditions and has a high level of manoeuvrability and station-keeping capabilities.

Aurora is a Skipsteknisk design with much of the key equipment designed by MAATS Tech in the UK, including the vessel’s carousel, which will carry cable in an innovative ‘carousel-in-a-carousel’ arrangement that will allow it to carry more cable without significantly increasing the vessel’s size or cost.

The concentric carousel-in-a-carousel concept on Aurora can process two cables simultaneously, or store a single length weighing 10,000 tonnes. The vessel will have two firing lines.