Jan De Nul has ordered a new trenching support vessel that will be an exact copy of the Isambard Kingdom Brunel, announced in March. The order brings to five the number of vessels currently under construction for Jan De Nul's subsea cable installation and protection business, comprising two XL cable-laying vessels, an XL rock installation vessel, and now two trenching vessels. The Isambard K. Brunel is of an Ulstein design and is being built at the China Merchants Heavy Industry shipyard in China. Both the Brunel and its new sister vessel will be capable of burying cables in the seabed to a depth of five meters, will feature ultra-low emission technology, and will be able to run on biofuel while being prepared for future methanol operation. Wouter Vermeersch, Director Subsea Cables Offshore Energy at Jan De Nul, said the company's cable-laying vessels Fleeming Jenkin and William Thomson are nearing market entry, with the Fleeming Jenkin having completed its first sea trials. He noted that investing in vessels able to protect cables at the same pace is a logical next step, following last year's order of the rock installation vessel George W. Goethals. With the addition of the Isambard K. Brunel and its sister ship, Jan De Nul's fleet for subsea cable installation and protection will grow to fourteen vessels. Jan De Nul is separately converting an existing water injection dredger, Henry Darcy, into a trenching support vessel that will carry the Crayfish subsea robot for burying cables in shallow water.