The specialist keeping the world’s cables moving

Cable carousels rarely get much attention, but have an important role, often dictating whether a project stays on schedule or not. Carousels store, load and pay out cable, both onshore and offshore. For Subsea Cable Assets (SCA), the carousel is just the starting point. Around it sits the loading towers, tensioners, control systems and engineering expertise needed to put a “cable to work”.
Moving a cable, flexible or umbilical, is never simple, whether it’s through a factory production line or off the deck of an offshore vessel. Every project brings its own combination of weight, geometry, location and timeline, and the equipment must be exactly right before work can begin. With projects growing larger and more complex, cable handling is no longer a simple job of getting a cable from A to B. How it is stored, deployed and protected matters just as much, as the smallest mistake can mean costly downtime and potentially expensive cable repairs.
With engineering and manufacturing facilities across Europe and Dubai, SCA management traces its origins back to 2007. Since then, it has built up extensive experience in the offshore subsea industry, delivering contracts worldwide.

Today, SCA is a specialist provider of carousel systems, both for offshore and onshore applications and submarine cable handling equipment for the global offshore energy sector. To date, SCA has delivered over 50 carousel systems worldwide, including units with capacities up to 12,000 tonnes, at the upper end of what the industry typically builds. Right now, SCA has 20 carousel systems and related equipment, including loading towers and tensioners in production, representing a combined cable and umbilical storage capacity of 50,000 tonnes. Twelve of those systems are due for delivery before the end of the year, supporting projects in the US, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Scotland, and Brazil.
SCA works across three areas, each supporting a different stage of a cable’s life. Factory Solutions equips cable manufacturers with specialised engineered equipment for storage, loading and handling within production. Offshore Solutions brings equipment, engineering and project support together to deliver cable, flexible and umbilical operations from vessel spreads and mobilisations through to
spooling and the offshore installation itself; and Rental Solutions, the newest of the three, gives clients access to carousels, loading equipment and tensioners without the commitment of ownership.
The common thread across SCA’s business is a client-first mindset, proven through project delivery. Rather than offering an off-the-shelf, fixed product, SCA works to understand what each project needs, then brings the right equipment and expertise together to make it happen. This adaptability is necessary as offshore wind enters its most capital-intensive decade, one where project timelines can shift quickly and capacity isn’t always where it’s needed.
Projects increasingly call for more sophisticated, heavy-duty installation spreads, larger carousels, loading towers and track tensioners capable of maintaining structural integrity throughout transit and laying. These pressures are nowhere clearer than in the Asia Pacific, where industry analysis highlights growing vessel and equipment bottlenecks as turbine installations scale upi.
SCA’s growth is built on detailed, behind the scenes work that decides whether a facility gets up and running. In Taiwan, SCA has just fitted a precision roller system beneath a new set of carousels at a cable manufacturing facility. The new foundations will let the fully loaded baskets rotate as cable is wound on and off.

In Europe, SCA’s Offshore team has delivered a full cable installation deck spread for N-Sea Group’s CLV Altera, testing five tensioners for the client, and lifting and installing a 4,500-tonne capacity carousel. CLV Altera is part of a wave of new cable-lay vessels entering service to meet growing offshore wind demand, and it’s this kind of tested, ready to go equipment, delivered on schedule, that determines how quickly a new vessel actually gets to work.

Grid operators are investing too. In Germany, a first framework contract with grid operator, 50Hertz Transmission, won through a competitive European tender, will supply four cable storage and handling systems for the country’s offshore and onshore grid buildout; while in Scotland, SCA is fitting out six onshore cable carousels with various capacities and loading arm systems for Sumitomo's new cable manufacturing plant at Nigg, built to serve growing demand for subsea cables used for European offshore wind farms and grid connections.
SCA delivers

Demand isn't confined to wind. A first contract with US deepwater operator Kosmos Energy, more usually associated with oil and gas, will see SCA deliver a 1,000-tonne onshore umbilical storage carousel for a project in Mobile, Alabama, scheduled for the end of this year. Elsewhere, a complete transport package for heavy-lift specialist Seaway7, including a 7,000-tonne offshore cable carousel, loading tower, control cabin, deck tensioner and chute arrangement, shows carousel capacity is being sought right across the energy sector.
In addition, a recently awarded turnkey contract will see SCA responsible for a cable transport from the UK to the Caspian Sea for a major Engineering, Procurement and Construction contractor.

A new chapter in rental

SCA’s drive to be agile and responsive to client needs is clear in its recent decision to offer rental carousels, marking a new chapter for the business. A multi-million-dollar investment has added two new carousel systems to its fleet, with capacities of 4,000 and 6,000 tonnes, available for hire rather than purchase. A first rental contract, covering both systems, has already been secured with a European client. Both units are designed to be modular and demountable, transportable in 40-foot containers. That means SCA can match carousel size and be responsive to seasonal or fluctuating demand, while keeping costs proportionate to actual usage. Instead of replacing SCA’s existing equipment sales and engineering work, rental sits alongside it. Clients who prefer to use their own equipment still can, while those who want a shorter term, more flexible, option, now have a way to do this without the capital commitment. SCA also offers a buy-back option, giving clients even more flexibility.

Proven equipment backed by expertise

SCA has made a conscious decision to keep its team lean. It means decisions get made faster and clients get direct access to experienced people rather than working through layers of process. The company combines proven equipment with the crews and expertise to support it, backed up by careful planning and mobilisation, whether that’s a single cable transfer or for a full spooling campaign, onshore or offshore.
That same range extends to SCA's own equipment line. Its heavy-duty offshore modular reels, designed, engineered and fabricated in-house, handle up to 600 tonnes and are DNV-certified for significant wave heights up to four metres, the accreditation clients rely on when specifying equipment for offshore work.

Where the market is heading

SCA’s expansion comes as demand across the sector is growing. According to the global market analysts, Grand View Research, the global submarine power cable market was valued at $17.8 billion in 2025, and is projected to grow to $35.9 billion by 2033, with offshore wind export cables accounting for around 70% of that demandii. Installed cable length for offshore wind projects has already grown six-fold over the past decade, and a further 117,640 km forecast for installation by 2040, alongside 60,700 km for new subsea interconnector cabling over the same periodiii.
With demand arriving faster than supply can keep up, equipment flexibility is becoming ever more important. Projects need to be sequenced around capacity, and operators who scale equipment up or down as schedules shift to meet clients’ needs, are better placed to keep projects moving than those tied to a fixed fleet. Giving clients the option of rental adds another layer of flexibility, sitting alongside SCA’s established asset business, and one likely to matter increasingly more as offshore wind and interconnector markets scale up across Northern Europe and further afield in the Asia-Pacific and US.
For a company built on solving cable movement problems project by project, this evolving market is one SCA is well placed to respond to, helping clients work through whatever challenges come next.
This momentum will continue at WindEnergy Hamburg, one of the world’s largest events for onshore and offshore wind energy, where SCA will be at the end of the month, meeting others across the industry to reflect and plan as this innovative market evolves.
Authored by Sil de Rijke, Chief Operating Officer, Subsea Cable Assets.