Germany: NSW Starts Operating M/V Aura and Subsea Cable Trencher SeaREX

Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke GmbH (NSW), a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Cable, has received a newly refurbished DP2 cable laying vessel under a long term charter agreement from the vessel management company Meriaura.

The vessel M/V Aura has been refurbished to the exact specifications of NSW and will greatly enhance its ability to install subsea energy cable. NSW intends to use this vessel for various infield array and export cable projects that the company currently has in its order backlog, further solidifying its leading position as a turnkey service provider for cables to the international offshore wind market. Part of the cable laying spread will also be NSW’s new heavy-duty cable trencher device SeaREX, which was supplied by SMD earlier this year.

As part of the refurbishment, M/V Aura received a full DP2 propulsion systems, an accommodation unit for cable laying and customer personnel, a heave compensated crane and an extension of the beam section in the central working area from 18m to 25m. The beam extension, primarily targeted to accommodate the new 23m wide turntable also decreases the vessel’s draught significantly. Finally, the electrical generation capacity was upgraded together with the installation of an A-Frame equipped with a launch and recovery system to serve the needs of the SeaREX heavy-duty cable trencher. SeaREX, the 60te trencher has 2100hp of installed power, and is one of the most powerful trencher of its type currently available in the industry.

Following the successful transition from a pure telecom subsea cable system provider to a key player in the global energy subsea cable industry, NSW further enhances its capabilities with the investment in these directly controlled cable laying assets. Thorsten Schwarz, Managing Director at NSW commented, ”Based on the outstanding experiences and track record of our marine installation and project management team in global subsea telecom cable installations, we quickly realized that the continuous evolution and technical project profiles in the offshore wind industry required a different class of installation tools under direct control. Our co-investment in NOSTAG 10 was the first step in securing access to a highly specialised cable laying spread with extreme shallow water capabilities and now Aura and SeaREX are extending the range of our controlled assets into deeper water and DP2 capabilities. Together NOSTAG 10 and Aura along with the service capabilities of our well established installation partners, we can now offer a unique and comprehensive portfolio of installation services in an integrated package with our cables.”

The taking-over ceremony of Aura and SeaREX today at NSW is following the recent inauguration of a new MVAC cabling facility at the its Nordenham plant, further underlining the strong commitment that NSW together with its shareholder General Cable expresses towards the Offshore Wind industry. Besides offering MVAC and HVAC solutions to the offshore wind industry, NSW is also active in marketing its services to subsea transmission projects as well as to the global oil and gas industry.

[mappress]

Press release, October 18, 2012; Image: nsw