After 28 days at sea, Prysmian’s new cable layer reaches Norway for final fit-out (Video)

Prysmian’s new cable laying vessel (CLV) Monna Lisa has arrived at Vard’s shipyard in Norway from Romania, with outfitting completion, installation of main mission equipment and trials now on schedule.

After the Italian cable giant disclosed plans to invest in the CLV Monna Lisa, a sister vessel to Leonardo da Vinci, two years ago, a keel-laying ceremony was held in Tulcea, Romania, in April 2023 to mark the start of construction. VARD launched the 171-meter vessel at the beginning of June, after completing steel cutting, keel laying, generator installation, and hull erection.

Monna Lisa then began its journey of 4,000 nautical miles from Romania to Norway, towed down the Danube River, across the Mediterranean Sea, and up the coast of Portugal and Spain to VARD’s shipyard in Søvik to undertake final fit-out and trials before it goes into service in early 2025.

The cable layer’s maiden assignment will be on the $5 billion Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) project, a joint venture between SSEN Transmission and National Grid, said to be the longest HVDC cable connection ever built in Great Britain.

The vessel will match Leonardo da Vinci for capacity and performance and will boast two carousels of 7,000 and 10,000 tons, the highest capacity in the current market. It will incorporate some green improvements such as lower C02 emissions thanks to the high-voltage shore connection to power the vessel with clean energy during loading operation, a 3 MWh energy storage system with double the battery capacity and diesel generators ready for biodiesel blends.

The addition of Monna Lisa will expand Prysmian’s installation fleet to six cable-laying vessels. It is the first item on Prysmian’s New Build Program after Leonardo da Vinci, but not the last one as Prysmian will expand its CLV fleet with two additional vessels.

VARD is currently building its third cable-laying vessel for Prysmian.