Keel laying marks official construction start of NKT’s second cable layer

Danish power cable manufacturer and installation company NKT has marked the official start of construction of its new cable-laying vessel (CLV) NKT Eleonora with the keel laying ceremony, some two months after the first steel was cut for the vessel.

The official keel laying of NKT Eleonora took place on January 15 at one of VARD’s facilities in Romania.

The first steel for the vessel was cut at the beginning of November 2024.

“With NKT Eleonora, we are reinforcing our leading position in the global offshore cable market with unmatched installation capabilities. This ceremony symbolises our commitment to advancing offshore cable installation and investing in the energy infrastructure essential for the green transition,” said Darren Fennell, Executive Vice President and Head of HV Solutions in Karlskrona.

To remind, on the back of a record order backlog and strong market outlook, NKT announced investments in its second CLV, as well as in a new high-voltage factory on the existing site in Karlskrona, Sweden, in May 2023, with both assets expected operational from 2027.

NKT Eleonora will be able to run on both methanol and HVO/marine diesel oil and will feature Wärtsilä 32 methanol engines. Wärtsilä is also supplying the front tunnel and azimuth thruster, NOV REMACUT the cable lay system, cranes and mission equipment, and ABB will deliver its Onboard DC Grid power distribution system.

The 176.5-meter-long CLV was designed by Salt Ship Design. Equipped with three turntables, it will offer a cable-laying capacity of 23,000 tonnes.