Prysmian Group, an energy and telecom cable systems company, says that its new cable lay vessel, named Ulisse, is now ready for offshore cable installation operations, following an investment of over EUR 20 million.
According to Prysmian, the group can now rely on a fleet of three vessels – Giulio Verne, Cable Enterprise and Ulisse – and its extensive range of in-house cable protection equipment to provide an extended and strengthened submarine cable installation capability.
“Our objective is to have a more comprehensive control of our supply chain by insourcing a greater part of the installation work and to further boost the group’s submarine project execution capabilities with a flexible asset that can both transport submarine cables and perform cable lay and burial installation operations in shallow waters,” explains Massimo Battaini, energy projects senior vice president at Prysmian Group.
Following the purchase from the shipowner EOS, the flat top barge has been converted into a 120-meter-long, 33-meter-wide cable layer at the PaxOcean shipyard in Singapore. Renamed Ulisse, the vessel now has an eight-point spread mooring system, enabling it to meet the operating requirements even in harsh environmental conditions.
The vessel will be capable of transporting 7,000 tons of cable in a 30-meter-diameter carousel and can be equipped with a carousel loading pickup arm and a stern-mounted cable chute for loading and surface lay operations.
The company states that the first project to be executed by Ulisse will be the Negros-Panay connection in the Philippines – awarded in December 2014 and worth a total of around EUR 90 million – which comprises the design, supply, installation and commissioning of a high-voltage alternating current 230 kV submarine cable system, with XLPE insulation, along a 22-kilometer submarine route across the Guimaras Strait.
