Vard's shipyard in Tulcea, Romania, on Wednesday held a keel laying ceremony for the Prysmian Group's newest cable laying vessel.
The new 171-meter vessel, an identical sister ship to the state-of-the-art Leonardo da Vinci delivered in 2021, is scheduled to start commercial operation in early 2025.
According to the Prysmian Group, both the new ship and the Leonardo da Vinci are the only installation vessels in the world with two rotating platforms of 7,000 and 10,000 tons, bringing the total capacity up to 14,000 tons to ensure the highest carousel capacity in the market. Moreover, they both have a 100-ton capstan to allow for extreme deep-water installation of the heavy cables needed for energy transition.
One major improvement has been made to the new vessel compared to the Leonardo da Vinci: Prysmian has doubled her hybrid propulsion battery capacity to 3 MW in order to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, improving overall eco-friendliness.
By increasing its installation fleet to six vessels, Prysmian said it will maintain its market share in the face of stronger cables demand in new markets such as the United States, where it is building a new cables factory at Brayton Point, Mass..