Jan De Nul successfully completes first major umbilical installation project

Jan De Nul Group has successfully completed the installation and burial of the two main subsea umbilicals for the exploitation of new gas fields in the West Nile Delta concessions, located in the North Alexandria region.

Specifically for this project, Jan De Nul Group reconfigured its multi-purpose vessel Willem de Vlamingh into an efficient Umbilical Installation Vessel. The two umbilicals, with a total length of 69 km, were loaded in Norway in May 2018 and transported to Egypt. The challenging installation campaign started with a 3-km beach pull for which the Willem de Vlamingh positioned in water depths of only 7 m. Water depths significantly increased along the route. The campaign was successfully finalized early August 2018 with the precise installation of the Umbilical Termination Assembly at 600 metres water depth.

In order to safeguard the critical main umbilical, installation and burial were performed in parallel: Willem de Vlamingh installed the umbilical onto the seabed, directly followed by Isaac Newton for simultaneous burying of the umbilical using the jet trenching method.

Wouter Vermeersch, Manager Cables and Umbilicals at Jan De Nul Group: “We are very proud to have executed this umbilical installation campaign. It again proves our versatile approach and expertise in various operational fields, both onshore, nearshore and offshore. Our staff and crew members on site performed a very precise work in challenging conditions.”

David Down, Project Manager at Subsea7: ”The safe and successful installation of the main umbilicals by Jan De Nul Group represents a key milestone on our project. Jan De Nul’s technical expertise and collaborative approach ensured a successful outcome despite the complexity associated with the beach pull and shallow water operations.”

Project video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afc181fJoPs