TenneT cable successfully laid under the Maasgeul

On Monday 31 August, Van Oord successfully laid TenneT’s first sea cable for TenneT’s ‘Dutch Offshore Grid’ five metres below the Maas Entrance seabed. The hydraulic engineer had developed the remote-controlled underwater trencher ‘Deep Dig-It’ especially for the project.

Once Pioneering Spirit arrived in Rotterdam, Van Oord got ready for the successful laying of TenneT’s cable across the Maas Entrance.<br>©KeesTorn

For the challenging crossing, the Port Authority had to close the 830-metre wide Maasgeul to ships whose draught was greater than 14.3 metres for several hours. This was done immediately after the arrival of the Pioneering Spirit in Rotterdam.

The crossing marks a successful start of construction work for the offshore part of the ‘Dutch Offshore Grid’. The remaining stretch of cable -some 42 kilometres in total- will be laid over the next few weeks.