The 123-metre Nexus vessel will be equipped with a cable carousel able to carry more than 5,000 tonnes of cable, and a crane that will allow it to lay the export cables.
Ship builder Damen constructed the vessel based on its Offshore Carrier 7500, which has accommodation for 90 people and a beam of 28 metres.
It was floated this week at Damen's shipyard in Galati, Romania, and will see its first action at the Gemini offshore wind farm.
Van Oord has acquired a 10% stake in the Gemini project planned for Dutch waters. The company has been handed the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project, which is worth more than EUR 1.3 billion.
The Dutch company will install the foundations, electrical infrastructure and the inter-array and export cables at the project site. Offshore construction will commence this summer, with completion scheduled for Q1 2017.
