Van Oord’s newest, and only cable-laying ship Nexus was christened this past weekend by Mrs J. Damen-Carli, the wife of Mr Kommer Damen, chairman of Damen Shipyards Group. The ship is designed to connect the extensive array of power cables inherent to offshore wind farms.
The Lloyd’s Register-classed ship was built by Damen Shipyards in Galati, Romania and measures nearly 123 meters long by 27 meters at the beam and a 5.8 meter draft. The 8,400 ton deadweight, Nexus is equipped with a 5,000 ton rated cable carrousel a 100-ton rated main crane and has accommodations for 90.
Van Oord says the first project for the Nexus will be in supporting the construction of the 600 MW Gemini offshore wind park that will be built 85 kilometers off the coast of Groningen. Van Oord is the primary EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor for the Gemini wind park which encompasses supplying and installing the foundations, the entire electrical infrastructure, including the offshore and onshore high voltage stations, the cables, and the installation of the Siemens wind turbines.
Once fully operational in 2017, Gemini will consist of 150 wind turbines with a capacity of 4 MW each.
Van Oord will be deploying several vessels, including the specially developed offshore installation vessel Aeolus and the cable-laying vessel Nexus, for the construction of the wind park.
Pieter van Oord, CEO: ‘The Nexus is tangible proof of the strength of the Dutch maritime cluster. The ship was built on the order of a Dutch ship owner, at a shipyard owned by a Dutch company, to be used to build the largest Dutch offshore wind park that will contribute significantly to the implementation of the Dutch Energy Agreement.’
All images courtesy Van Oord
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