On 23 July senior representatives of Maersk Supply Service, DeepOcean UK and the Damen Shipyards Group gathered at Damen Shipyards Galati, Romania to witness the launching of subsea support vessel Maersk Connector. The vessel is owned and operated by Maersk Supply Service and is built to contract for a seven-year charter agreement with DeepOcean.
Maersk Connector is the second of a new generation of cable-laying vessels developed by the Damen Shipyards Group. Equipped with survey and trenching capabilities, she will extend DeepOcean’s capabilities in the larger cable-laying end of the market, with a new focus on interconnector projects in addition to oil and gas sector and renewables work.
She is fitted with a 7,000-tonne carousel for installation and burial projects from landfall to deepwater, and also for operations in remote geographical locations. The 9,300dwt vessel features 2,200m2 of unobstructed deck with a loading capacity of 20t/m2 and ro-ro capability, and has a top speed of 12 knots.