Jan De Nul Group has signed an agreement with Osbit UK for the design and construction of a new subsea trenching vehicle.
The vehicle named Swordfish is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2022.
It can be fitted with either a jetting installation, a mechanical chain cutter or a combination of both to tackle a wide variety of soil conditions and bury cables up to three or even three-and-a-half metres deep.
Swordfish will be powered by two 300kW hydraulic power units and two 300kW electric HP jet pumps.
It will be capable of tackling soil strengths up to 125kPa, thanks to its 1120 kW of pump power, Jan De Nul said.
In mechanical or hybrid mode, it will be able to cope with soil strengths up to 400kPa, using its 400kW chain cutter tool and 420kW additional jetting power, the company said.
It added that the main jetting tool is combined with front cutting nozzles and additional rear backwash swords to optimise trenching performance.
The trenching vehicle will be launched with a dedicated A-frame and hoisting winch from one of Jan De Nul’s offshore vessels.
Jan De Nul Group offshore cables manager Wouter Vermeersch said: “The Swordfish makes the perfect addition to our existing fleet of trenching vehicles providing excellent protection for cables installed by any of our cable laying vessels.
“With its high power, the Swordfish will be able to bury the cables deeper and thanks to its hybrid mechanical chain cutting configuration the Swordfish can also tackle more challenging soil conditions, including hard clays up to 400kPa.
“This new investment, together with the recent acquisition of our cable installation vessel Connector, arms Jan De Nul Group for the energy transition of tomorrow.
“We look forward to working together with Osbit UK on this project and to offer customers the best solution for their cable projects.”
Osbit UK joint managing director Robbie Blakeman said: “We are delighted that Jan De Nul has selected Osbit to supply the Swordfish trenching vehicle.
“We worked closely with Jan De Nul on specifications and drew from our in house trenching expertise and proven technology base to develop this market leading subsea vehicle.
“We pride ourselves on serving a global market and as a UK based company with a predominantly local supply chain, this projects allows us to continue to strengthen our exports of specialist equipment to mainland Europe.
“Furthermore, it allows us to continue to invest in our people, critically the development of highly skilled engineering roles at our home base in the north east of England.
“We look forward to collaborating closely with Jan De Nul throughout this exciting project and delivering the Swordfish on time and fully operational for its first campaign.”