Annouk Ticheler (28 years old) is a project engineer at Boskalis Subsea Cables. “It’s great to be surrounded by likeminded people, all working together towards the same goal.”
Subsea Cables is part of Boskalis’ Offshore Energy division and is specialized in installing (power) cables on the seabed. After studying maritime engineering, Annouk decided to learn more about the different aspects of offshore energy during a Boskalis traineeship. She quickly realized she enjoyed working for Subsea Cables the most. “I officially started as a project engineer in April 2025.”
Subsea cable projects vary greatly in scope and complexity. For instance, jobs can include interconnecting offshore wind turbines, using relatively short cables. Or connecting entire wind parks to the mainland, using significantly longer ‘export cables’. Subsea cables are also needed for other purposes, such as connecting islands to the mainland’s energy grid.
“As a project engineer, I play a crucial role in preparing cable laying projects. Together with my team and other stakeholders, I work out plans and we discuss if and how a certain solution is going to work at sea. The next step is to write the necessary procedures to execute the project on site.” That’s when Annouk leaves the office and the offshore adventure begins. “As soon as work starts, I join the crew on one of our offshore vessels to assist and make sure everything is executed exactly the way we planned.”
Annouk is currently preparing a cable laying scope for the impressive Liverpool Bay project. “Our client is building a new platform to repurpose depleted gasfields. The platform will be used to inject CO2 captured from onshore industrial sources and store it in the empty fields. These so-called ‘carbon capture and storage projects (CCS)’ are going to play an increasingly important role in tackling climate change.”
Subsea Cables has been assigned the important task of connecting multiple platforms and cables to the main power grid with a 30-kilometer-long subsea cable. The operation will take place over multiple years and involves laying a cable from a carousel on a cable-laying vessel and burying the cable to protect it from the elements with another vessel. “It’s my turn to go offshore next summer. That’s when the ‘pull in scope’ starts, where we pull the end of the cable into the platform.”
Annouk especially enjoys that no two projects are the same. For example, she worked on a maintenance job at the Luchterduinen wind farm near the Dutch shore. “It wasn’t just a case of installing new cables but removing the old ones as well. A different project involved covering existing cables with rock bags to stabilize them and extend their life expectancy.”
How Annouk feels about working offshore? “To be clear: I’m not at sea all the time. I spend a lot of time preparing for projects in the office. But as soon as I move offshore for a couple of weeks, I step into a whole different world. Yes, you have to be able to cope with longer workdays and being away from home. But on the other hand, it’s amazing to be in touch with the practical side of the business. Spending time on board really is an essential part of the job. Other perks: the onboard facilities are good and it’s nice to work with a diverse and international group of people with a strong team spirit. And last but not least, there’s a lot of extra time off waiting for you as soon as you get home.”
As a relatively new member of the team, Annouk is excited to expand her knowledge in the years to come. “I really like the complexity and variation in projects and can’t wait to gain more experience and take on more responsibilities along the way.”
Do you want to follow in Annouk’s footsteps and make your mark in Subsea Cables? Check out our vacancies here.
Create a job alert
