Fugro to Support Nexans in Subsea Cable Installation Projects

Fugro has been appointed by Nexans Norway for the provision of environmental advisory services as part of its global environmental advisor framework.

The global framework agreement with Fugro started this month and will be in place for one year.
Nexans Marine Installation Department installs high voltage and fiber optic submarine cables around the globe using a variety of vessels and barges.

Under the agreement, Fugro’s worldwide services will provide environmental consultancy and consenting expertise where Nexans secures business.

Bjørn Ladegård, director of installation at Nexans, said: “We are pleased that Fugro can support Nexans in our commitment to maintain high environmental standards in our projects. A complete range of services to identify, assess and suggest mitigating actions on various environmental aspects is required to plan and execute our cable installation projects.”

Source: http://subseaworldnews.com

ANALYSIS: Environmental impact assessment is becoming increasingly important in submarine cable installation projects as awareness in government and lobby groups increases. Failure to address this area adequately when planning a subsea cable project can lead to expensive delays and even project cancellation. By appointing Fugro as their environmental consultant, Nexans has outsourced a key risk in submarine cable project delivery.

Admittedly, this arrangement applies more to Nexans' subsea power cable business where they are often the turnkey supplier. In the submarine fiber optic business, Nexans only occasionally takes on the role of prime contractor, mainly for unrepeatered systems but Fugro is an experienced operator in this sector as well and will undoubtedly be used for such projects.