Sea Spider starts laying cable in Baltic

A multi-purpose, state-of-the-art diesel electric cable layer has started work for the first time, in the Baltic, playing a key role in the SwePol power cable project.

Van der Stoel Cable, a multi-disciplinary submarine engineering and installation contractor, acquired Sea Spider as part of a wide-ranging modernisation of its fleet.

As Van der Stoel’s commercial manager Hans Huijskens explains, the cable laying market is enjoying a period of growth, fuelled by increased demand for telecommunications cabling.

Owners believe that the cable laying market will remain buoyant for the foreseeable future, a fact reflected in a recent decision by Dutch offshore/dredging contractor Royal Boskalis Westminster to acquire a significant shareholding in the company, the remaining shares being owned by the van der Stoel family, and by Wagenborg Shipping.

Designed for shallow waters

Typically, cable layers require good sea-keeping capabilities, so that they can continue to work in adverse weather conditions, and a large cable-carrying capacity. Sea Spider has both of these attributes, but was also designed to work in difficult areas such as shallow waters, tidal waters and estuaries. It is also notable for the short time in which it was constructed — just nine months from contract signing – and for a sophisticated diesel electric propulsion system.

Initial discussions between the shipyard and the owner started in June 1998, at which time Van der Stoel Cable was focussing on a conversion rather than a newbuilding. The company planned to take an existing flat-top barge and convert it into a self-propelled cable layer and cable repair vessel.

However, the yard, Shipyard de Hoop Lobith, The Netherlands, managed to convince the company that a newbuilding would produce a much more capable vessel – although the dimensions of the vessel remain approximately the same as those of the barge – and a contract for the vessel was signed on July 18 last year. The planned delivery date of April 1999 would thus be just nine months after contract signature and the beginning of detailed engineering and procurement.

The main design criteria were that the newbuilding should be capable of operating successfully in deep and shallow water, and be capable of laying cable in a significant wave height of 2.5m. That the requirement to work in shallow water was an extremely stringent one is demonstrated by the fact that the newbuilding is capable of working in water just 2.5m deep, albeit on a reduced deadweight. Its draught will vary between 2.0m and 4.30m, depending on deadweight, and Sea Spider is even designed to be beached, if required.