Prysmian Group has responded to the growing market for undersea power cables by investing €350 million in two new cutting-edge cable-laying vessels to reinforce its submarine project capabilities.
The first new vessel will be an evolution of the Monna Lisa class, 185 m long and 34 m in the beam. It will be equipped with advanced cable installation solutions, such as three carousels for a total capacity of 19 000 tonnes, positioning itself among the highest cable loading capacity vessels in the market and enabling a reduced transportation time from the factory to the site. A bollard pull in excess of 180 tonnes will allow the vessel to perform complex installation operations of simultaneous cable lay and burial (up to 4 cables) with a variety of ploughs, The vessel will be equipped with modern DP3 positioning and seakeeping systems and will be operational by beginning of 2027.
The second vessel will be an evolution of the Ulisse class, with a length of 167 m and a breadth of 40 m and will be equipped by two carousels (one of them split in two concentric sections) for a total cable loading capacity of 10 000 tonnes. The modern DP2 positioning, and sea-keeping systems and an eight- point mooring system will enable the ship to meet its operating requirements specialising in shallow-water cable laying and burial installation, even in harsh environmental conditions. The vessel will be operational by the first half of 2025.
Prysmian says that both vessels will have outstanding green credentials. They will be equipped with high voltage shore connection systems to enable them to use ‘clean’ energy during loading operations, diesel generators suitable for biodiesel blends, and for the deep-water-vessel battery hybrid systems.
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