Deal on track to form world’s largest jack-up fleet

Manufacturing giants Cadeler and Eneti have submitted a key filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission to move their decision to combine businesses ahead.

An F-4 registration statement has now been filed and Cadeler CEO Mikkel Gleerup said the plan to combine was moving according to plan.

”This is a strategic combination that will unlock unrivalled value due to increased cross utilisation of resources and improved flexibility, capacity and agility,” he said. “Thje combination will provide customers with the largest and most diverse fleet of jack-up vessels in the industry, operated by highly skilled teams with unique expertise and track records.”

Later this year and early next, two X-class wind turbine installation vessels will be added to the Cadeler fleet, which currently consists of tow O-class vessels Wind Orca and Wind Osprey. The new mammoths will have 5,600m² of deck space, a payload of 17,600 tons and main crane capacity of 2,000 tons at 53 metres.

The first vessel has already been contracted for the 1.4 GW “Sofia” offshore wind power park in the North Sea, owned by RWE. Cadeler will assist Siemens-Gamesa with the transport and installation of 100 wind turbines of a size of 14 MW.

Cadelier, which is based in Denmark, is also having an F-class vessel built in China, which will make it the sixth jack-up in the company’s fleet.

The F-class is similar in size and payload to the X-class, but Cadeler says it is designed to cope with the next generation of wind turbine foundations, with the ability to transport and install six sets of 2XL monopile foundations per load, thus reducing the number of transits each vessel has to make.

Monaco-headquartered Eneti owns and operates two WTIVs, with two new generation WTIVs scheduled for delivery in Q4/2024 and Q2/2025. Three non-core NG 2500X vessels currently owned by Eneti are also being considered for divestment before or after the completion of the combination, Cadeler’s communications partner Henrik Skyggebjerg said.

”The combination will offer our customers a new degree of flexibility and supply-certainty from a contractor with vast operating experience in the industry and access to a diverse fleet of capable assets, operated by a highly skilled team. The combination will enable the combined company to operate more efficiently, and target still larger and more complex projects as requested by customers,” said Emanuele Lauro, CEO of Eneti.