France’s Nexans has partnered with US-based Crowley Wind Services to develop and operate the first Jones Act-compliant cable lay barge, tailored for offshore wind, telecom, and subsea industrial cabling.
The 300-foot barge, built in Louisiana and tested in the Gulf of Mexico to Nexans’ specifications, will be operated by an American crew. It’s currently working on Equinor’s Empire Wind project off New York and can be reconfigured for cable lay or repair work across a wide range of subsea applications.
Outfitted with a 3,500-ton capacity carousel and multiple burial tools—including a vertical injector, jet sled, and jetting ROV—the barge is built to handle demanding nearshore and shallow water work. Nexans said it also has upgrade potential to 7,000 tons with dual carousels for bundled cable deployment.
The vessel adds to Nexans’ U.S. offshore investments, which include a subsea cable manufacturing facility in South Carolina, and complements its fleet of three dedicated cable laying vessels.
“We are pleased to be working with Crowley on developing the capability to lay nearshore subsea cable in the US,” said Pascal Radue, executive vice president of Nexans’ PWR-transmission business.
“The cable lay barge will provide a productive supply chain solution for offshore energy, telecommunications and other sectors,” noted Graham Tyson, vice president of operations, Crowley Wind Services, adding: “Coupled with our US maritime fleet and mariners providing feedering services and other logistics and project management capabilities, we could not be better equipped to serve the needs of industries seeking subsea cable solutions.”
