The order of a new cable-laying vessel by Prysmian is a sign of the firm’s confidence in the burgeoning submarine cable sector.
The submarine cable-laying industry will get a boost in early 2025 with the launch of a cutting-edge vessel as a sequel to Prysmian’s Leonardo da Vinci, which was delivered in 2021.
The ship, which will be built by Fincantieri subsidiary Vard, will have substantially the same hull as Da Vinci, 170 metres in length by 34 metres, and will carry similar cable installation equipment, enabling it to lay lines at more than 3,000 metres depth.
It will hold two carousels of 7,000 and 10,000 tonnes, which the company says will ensure it has the highest cable-loading capacity in the market and means reduced transport time from factory to site.
“The bollard pull will be in excess of 180 tonnes, conferring the capability to perform complex installation operations and supporting a variety of burial tools,” says Prysmian. ”The vessel will be equipped with DP3 positioning and seakeeping systems, while the maximum transit speed will exceed 16 knots.
Like Leonardo da Vinci, the new vessel will have green credentials: the high cable load capacity and navigation speed will significantly reduce the number of cable installation campaigns needed, compared to other vessels, thus enabling an overall decrease in CO2 emissions and a reduction in fuel consumption of approximately 40% compared to a traditional cable-laying vessel.”
Prysmian says NOx emissions will be reduced by 85% and a 3MW will also be installed.
The new vessel brings the company’s tally of cable-laying vessels to six, and once operational it will work on projects with Dominion Energy in the US, a link power cable project between the UK and Germany, and two offshore wind projects in Germany known as Dolwin4 and Borwin4.
