Jan De Nul orders third >30,000t rock installation vessel
Marine contractor Jan De Nul is pushing the boat out again with the order of a third 30,000-tonne rock installation vessel.
Finnish propulsion company Steerprop will supply the complete propulsion package, which will include the largest ducted propulsors it has ever produced.
George W. Goethals has been designed for the offshore energy sector, installing rocks to protect cables on the seabed.
“To meet the demanding operational profile, the propulsion system must provide exceptional power and reliability – capable of propelling a vessel with a capacity of up to 37,000 tonnes – while also ensuring high efficiency during transit and precise manoeuvrability during installation operations,” says Juho Rekola, director, Sales & Project Management, with Steerprop.
Two main mechanical azimuth pushing propulsors by Steerprop will each deliver more than 3MW of power, with ducted propellors measuring 3.6 metres in diameter, the largest ever produced by Steerprop.
The vessel, says Jan De Nul director of Newbuilding Jan Van de Velde, has been designed entirely in-house, possible because of the company’s ’decades of hands-on experience in subsea rock installation’.
In October, Jan De Nul launched the largest cable-laying vessel in the world, Fleeming Jenkin. The vessel has a loading capacity of 28,000 tonnes, making it the world’s largest of its kind. Delivery is scheduled for the second half of 2026.
