French subsea company Orange Marine has placed orders for two new hybrid cable laying vessels (CLVs) in a series.
The vessels will be designed by Vard Design as near-identical sisters of Sophie Germain, which was handed over to Orange Marine in 2023.
The CLVs will be specially designed for the maintenance of submarine fibre optic telecommunication cables. Vard developed the vessel design according to the client's operating requirements, with particular focus on seakeeping capabilities, low fuel consumption and efficient arrangements.
The completed vessels will each have a length of 100 metres, a beam of 18.8 metres, a depth of 7.15 metres, a deadweight of 1,800, accommodation for 76 personnel, and three cable tanks including one fitted with a carousel system.
Each CLV's hybrid diesel-electric propulsion system will include generators and a 497kWh battery pack. The entire propulsion arrangement can deliver speeds of up to 14.5 knots.
The hybrid configuration will also reduce the number of generators used while maintaining the redundancy needed for the safe maintenance of cables if a generator shuts down unexpectedly. The batteries will immediately shoulder the load of the failed generator while reducing fuel consumption.
