Prysmian’s Monna Lisa Cable Laying Vessel Joins Fleet

Prysmian’s new cable laying vessel (CLV) Monna Lisa has joined the fleet of the Italian cabling giant, following the completion of its sea trials.

The keel-laying ceremony for the CLV, a sister vessel to Leonardo da Vinci, was held in Tulcea, Romania, in April 2023 to mark the start of construction, which took around 24 months.

VARD launched the 171-meter vessel at the beginning of June 2024, 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.

Prysmian reported today, February 6, that the vessel had joined its fleet and is set to soon begin its operations.

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 CO2 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.