The Netherlands: Royal Boskalis Westminster Orders Cable Laying Vessel

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. has placed an order with Samsung for the construction of a power cable laying vessel. The vessel with an overall length of 100 meters and with a cable loading capacity of 5,000 ton is expected to be completed in the second half of 2012. Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. has also been awarded a € 20 million contract to lay two power cable between the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali.

Boskalis, in a consortium with two Asian partners has been awarded a contract by the Indonesia State Electricity Corporation PT. PLN (PLN) to install underwater power cables between the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali.

This is a full turnkey project in which Boskalis will place two 150 kV underwater power cables of about 5 km in length between the islands of Java and Bali. Due to the hard and irregular sea bedding and strong sea currents, Boskalis will also place rock to stabilize the seabed and to protect the power cables.

The island of Bali currently suffers a constant shortage of power, obliging PLN to request users to conserve power and to schedule blackouts when existing power generation facilities are due for inspection. This project will provide enough additional power to solve Bali’s shortage and facilitate the further development of a popular tourist destination, which attracts around 2.3 million tourists each year.

The power cable laying vessel design was developed by a joint Boskalis SMIT team within a short time frame and she will strengthen the group’s position in the energy markets. There is demand for underwater interconnector power cables as a consequence of increased energy consumption, geographic disbalances in energy consumption and the growth of off-shore wind farms.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a leading global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. The company provides creative and innovative all-round solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime, coastal and delta regions of the world including the construction and maintenance of ports and waterways, land reclamation, coastal defense and riverbank protection. Boskalis offers a wide variety of marine services through SMIT and also has strategic partnerships in the Middle East (Archirodon) and in offshore services (Lamnalco). The company holds important home market positions in and outside of Europe. Boskalis has a versatile fleet of over 1,000 units and operates in around 65 countries across six continents. Including its share in partnerships, Boskalis has approximately 14,000 employees.

[mappress]

Source: boskalis, May 25, 2011;