Danish power-cable manufacturer NKT has sent its 23,000-tonne-capacity cable-laying vessel NKT Eleonora from VARD’s Tulcea shipyard in Romania to Brattvaag in Norway for final outfitting ahead of its planned entry into service in 2027, according to NKT.
The vessel, which carries construction number NB 969, left Tulcea on 17 July, with NKT confirming the construction milestone on 20 July.
The transfer is part of VARD’s two-yard construction programme. The hull and initial construction work were completed in Romania, while outfitting, commissioning and delivery will be carried out in Norway.
VARD secured the order from Sweden-based NKT HV Cables AB in December 2023. The contract was valued at between €200m and €250m ($229m to $286m).
Designed by Salt Ship Design, NKT Eleonora will be about 176 metres long and 32 metres wide. Its three turntables will provide capacity for 23,000 tonnes of cable, allowing it to transport and install longer and heavier high-voltage power cables.
The vessel will have DP3 dynamic positioning and an enclosed cable-handling deck. It will be able to install three power cables simultaneously, including configurations for 525 kV projects using metallic return cables.
NKT Eleonora will be capable of running on methanol, hydrotreated vegetable oil or marine diesel oil. It will join NKT Victoria in the company’s cable-installation fleet.
NKT is a Denmark-headquartered manufacturer and installer of low-, medium- and high-voltage power-cable systems. NKT HV Cables AB is its Sweden-based high-voltage cable company.
VARD is a Norwegian builder of specialised vessels controlled by Italian shipbuilding group Fincantieri.
Salt Ship Design is a Norwegian vessel-design company.
Wärtsilä is supplying the methanol engines and thrusters, ABB the power-distribution and electrical-propulsion equipment, and NOV REMACUT the cable-laying system, cranes and mission equipment.