Power is not the JFJ De Nul 'sonly strong point, it is also engineered to be environmentally friendly. Careful calculation went into the powers released by the limited free fall of the 230 tonne, 45m long heavy spud pile, which is necessary for it to anchor properly in often rock hard soil. Waste and grease are kept inside the vessel, especially with regard to the spud pile, where maintenance free composition layers were used in the supporting framework.

High environmental standards were also set for the vessel's 60 crew members. Flexible placing of apparatus and a special piping construction reduce noise pollution to a minimum. Noise levels are kept to 60 db in sleeping quarters and 65 db in working areas.

The J.F.J. De Nul has been working on the Palm Island projects off Dubai but will have sailed before seawork for northern Russia, where it will excavate pipeline trenches to the new Sachalit oil field presently under construction. The field is situated in open sea some 2,000 km from the nearest port and is only accessible for three months of the year.

'A vessel working over there is completely self supporting, said IHC director H Van Berk.

'It is important that the people on board feel comfortable. There are therefore well developed hotel type facilities on board, including a bar and a sauna.'

MJ Information No: 19537