Nantong Xiangyu Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering has signed a construction deal for a pure electric-powered cable laying vessel with Zhongtian Technology’s Shanghai Yuanwei Construction Engineering.
The vessel is 139.8 m long and 38 m wide and was developed by the Marine Design and Research Institute of China. The vessel is touted as the largest self-propelled, pure electric-driven cable-laying vessel in China.
It can operate in a maximum water depth of 200 m, with a cable carrying capacity of 16,000 tonnes. The cable layer is equipped with helicopter platforms, large coaxial turntable, dual exit channels and can lay two cables at the same time.
After completion, it will lay more than 1,000 km of subsea cables per year, which, according to Zhongtian Technology, will break the bottleneck of laying cables over 100 km, provide core equipment support for Nantong’s development towards the sea and the layout of new marine infrastructure such as offshore wind power and energy islands.