Italy’s Prysmian Group has announced it plans to spend more than €170m ($210.3m) building a next-generation cable laying vessel, to support its installation business in the interconnector and offshore wind markets.

The unit, which will have state-of-the-art positioning and seakeeping systems so as to be able to operate in water depths of more than 2,000 metres, will feature enlarged onboard cable-loading capacity, as well as heavy-duty ploughs and other technology for complex cable burial operations.