Fincantieri, a shipbuilding group headquartered in Italy, together with its subsidiary VARD, announces a new contract with Orange Marine to design two additional vessels based on the VARD 9 03 design for Orange Marine’s repair fleet. The two units will follow the same design as CS Sophie Germain, which was delivered to the customer in July 2023.

The vessels will be built at Colombo Dockyard PLC, where previous cable-laying vessels for Orange Marine have been delivered. The contract builds on cooperation between Orange Marine, Colombo Dockyard PLC, and VARD to develop naval solutions intended for the maintenance of submarine fibre optic telecommunications cables.

According to the companies, engineering teams are working closely with shipowners and operators to support functionality, efficiency, and long-term operational value, while expanding capabilities in cable-laying vessel design. VARD states it has designed and/or built nine vessels in this segment, with five currently under construction.