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Trieste, April 29, 2018 – Vard Holdings Limited, Fincantieri’s Norwegian subsidiary, one of the major global designers and shipbuilders of offshore and specialized vessels, has secured a contract for the design and construction of one cable laying vessel for Prysmian Group, the world leader in energy and telecom cable systems industry. The contract value, including owner supplied special equipment, amounts to approximately euro 170 million.

The specialized vessel for advanced subsea operations, is intended to be the most capable cable layer in its market. Her strengths will be deep water installation capabilities for depths of more than 2,000 meters and high cable loading capacity in large cable rotating platforms.

Vard and Prysmian are currently completing vessel’s design and, according to contract activation scheme, the commencement of construction phase is foreseen by the end 2018. The cable layer, including the main systems and equipment, will be built by VARD Group’s production network with delivery scheduled in 4Q 2020. She will be 172 meters long with a beam of 34 meters and will be able to accommodate 120 people. The vessel will be developed to perform complex installation operations supporting a variety of state-of-the-art and reduced environmental footprint burial systems, including underwater heavy duty ploughs and high precision positioning and seakeeping systems.

Massimo Battaini, Prysmian Group SVP Business Energy Project, commented: “This new strategic asset will consolidate Prysmian Group’s leadership in the submarine cable industry, by bolstering turnkey approach, under which we deliver end-to-end EPCI projects, from engineering, manufacturing and installation to full monitoring and diagnostic services”.

The CEO of Fincantieri, Giuseppe Bono, said: “This contract illustrates in the best possible way the concreteness of our diversification strategy, as well as the effectiveness of the synergies carried out within our Group. By exploiting the wealth of skills of our subsidiary Vard, from today we can enhance our product portfolio with an original and cutting-edge project in the offshore sector. Fincantieri closely follows the evolution of this market, which after years is beginning to show early signs of recovery”. Bono then concluded: “This order is, in fact, one of the first worldwide following the market crisis. It therefore fills us with pride that we have been able to secure this contract, gaining the trust of an highly prestigious Italian company, like Prysmian”.