Newcastle’s multi-million-pound cable plough

North Shields-based manufacturer Soil Machine Dynamics (SMD) has handed over a purpose-built pre-lay plough to marine service providers Boskalis, for use at Ørsted’s offshore wind farm Hornsea Two.

The multi-functional plough will be used by Boskalis to install 380 km of export cables which will ultimately connect Hornsea Two’s offshore substation to the site’s onshore substation in Killingholme, Lincolnshire.

The pre lay plough, named Megalodon by Boskalis, was manufactured on the north bank of the Tyne. It can operate in water at depths of up to 500 m and will be used in collaboration with Boskalis’ offshore support vessel, the BOKA Falcon.