Giulio Verne

Giulio Verne was built in 1983 by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in Ulsan, South Korea, originally entering service as ITM Venturer and later operating as Stena Venturer and Northern Venturer before being renamed Giulio Verne in 1988 under Italian ownership. The vessel underwent a major refit in 1997 at the Viktor Lenac shipyard in Croatia, which included installation of new stern sheaves, a bulbous bow and a new bow thruster, and she was repaired after suffering serious fire damage while loading cable near Naples in 1999. Ownership and commercial management ultimately passed to Prysmian Powerlink Srl following Prysmian’s acquisition of Pirelli’s power and telecom cable division in 2005, and the ship has remained in active service since then. Technically, Giulio Verne is a DP2 cable laying vessel classed RINA DYNAPOS AM/AT R, with a 7,000-tonne carousel and total cable cargo capacity of about 8,000 tonnes, including use of a static tank. She can perform bundled power cable laying, simultaneous lay and burial operations (using tools such as Prysmian’s Hydroplow), and has accommodation for up to about 90 persons, enabling extended offshore campaigns. The vessel is equipped for deepwater work and has conducted what Prysmian cites as the world’s deepest power cable lay, in the 1,600–1,650 m water-depth range. In terms of market orientation, Giulio Verne has a long track record on subsea power cable projects worldwide, including major interconnectors such as Basslink, Neptune, TransBay and SAPEI, as well as export and array cables for offshore wind farms like Greater Gabbard, Thanet and Walney 2. She has also been used for high-profile nearshore projects, such as laying high-capacity power and fibre-optic cables across the Hudson River between Manhattan and New Jersey. Today she operates primarily in the Mediterranean and adjacent markets under the Italian flag, serving offshore transmission, interconnector and offshore wind export cable installation and repair work for Prysmian’s global client base.