Prysmian plans to add two cutting-edge cable-laying vessels to further expand its cable-laying vessel fleet to support the company’s ability to ship and deliver the energy-demand capacity needs.

A press release said that the investment of approximately €350 million for the two new vessels will reinforce Prysmian’s submarine project execution capabilities. “The market is tremendously growing, and we are facing an increasing demand for submarine cable systems for interconnections and offshore wind farm projects both in Europe and in the U.S.,” said Hakan Ozmen, EVP Projects BU, Prysmian Group.

The first vessel will be an evolution of the Monna Lisa class, with a length of about 185 m and a breadth of about 34 m. Its advanced cable installation solutions will include three carousels with total capacity of 19,000 metric tons, among the highest cable-loading capacity vessels in the market. A bollard pull in excess of 180 metric tons will allow the vessel to perform complex installation operations of simultaneous cable lay and burial (up to four cables) with a variety of ploughs. It will have state-of-the-art DP3 positioning and seakeeping systems and will be operational by the beginning of 2027. It will be built by the VARD Group (a subsidiary of the Fincantieri Group), one of the world leaders in the design and construction of specialized vessels for the offshore market.

The other vessel will be the evolution of the Ulisse class, with a length of about 167 m and width of about 40 m. It will have two carousels—one split in two concentric sections—for a total cable loading capacity of 10,000 m tons. The ship will have DP2 positioning and seakeeping systems and an eight-point mooring system will enable the ship to work in shallow-water cable laying and burial installation, even in harsh environmental conditions. The vessel will be operational by the first half of 2025.

Both vessels will have outstanding green credentials: they will be equipped with high-voltage shore connection systems to power them with clean energy during loading operations, diesel generators suitable for biodiesel blends and battery hybrid systems only for the deep-water-vessel, due to its specific activity.

Hengtong, one of China’s largest fiber optic cable manufacturers, recently announced plans to expand its factory in the China-Egypt TEDA zone.

Per multiple news reports, the company plans to invest $18 million to enable it to produce two million km of optic cables annually. The deal was created by an agreement with the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE), a government body that oversees such development.

The pact calls for Hengtong to add 21,000 sq m to its factory in the Sokhna Industrial Zone, which is part of SCZONE. The designated zone supports light, medium and heavy manufacturing activities as well as commercial and business activities over an area of 210 km.

The new output will supply cables to Egyptian national projects such as the Decent Life Initiative, as well as the state-owned telecommunication giant, Telecom Egypt. The first phase of Hengtong’s factory in the SCZONE opened in March 2023 with $6 million in investments.

Batelco recently selected SubCom to provide and install a fiber-optic submarine cable for the Al Khaleej Cable that will branch from SEA-ME-WE 6 to extend connectivity from Bahrain to other regional countries.

A press release said that the order from Batelco, a telecom company that is part of the Beyon Group, will significantly enhance the data exchange capabilities of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The 1,400-km-long Al Khaleej Cable that will connect Bahrain to the regional countries of Qatar, UAE and Oman, will substantially boost Batelco’s capabilities and strengthen regional connectivity.”

“We are delighted to partner with SubCom,” said Batelco Chief Global Business Officer Hani Askar. The new subsea cable will create a layer of network diversity and resilience for the heavily used routes connecting the Middle East towards Europe and Asia. Batelco joined the SEA-ME-WE 6 cable consortium in February 2023.

Work on the SEA-ME-WE 6 cable, a 21,700 km-long subsea telecommunications data cable system, began in early 2022 and is scheduled for completion in 2025. It is designed to offer one of the lowest latencies available between the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Western Europe, able to transfer more than 100 terabits per second. All cable and equipment related to both SEA-ME-WE 6 and Al Khaleej will be manufactured by SubCom at its campus in Newington, New Hampshire.

SubCom Project Manager Benoit Duguet said that the company “is already at work manufacturing the cable and equipment necessary to complete one of the more extensive cable projects ever commissioned.”

 Once completed, the cable and equipment for both the SEA-ME-WE 6 and Al Khaleej Cable systems will be deployed by SubCom’s Reliance Class cable ships. The SEA-ME-WE 6 subsea cable connectivity to Bahrain and Al Khaleej Cable is scheduled for completion by the second quarter of 2026.

Bekaert announced that the company has delivered its first batch of tire reinforcement with third-party certified recycled steel content to Bridgestone Corporation.

A press release said that Bekaert has been paving the way for tire reinforcement with high recycled content that contributes to the circular economy. That steel’s recycled content reduced the company’s CO2 footprint by about 50%.

“There are many claims about circularity of materials in the tire industry, but lack of clear definitions and standards can lead to doubt on the validity of those claims,” said Bekaert’s Heiko Isselee, innovation platform manager for recycled steel. “This third-party certification of both Bekaert and our wire rod supplier enables us to provide our customers with a guarantee of compliance of the recycled content claims based on recognized industry standards.”

The certificate allows customers such as Bridgestone to include the recycled content in the Bekaert products it uses to the tally of recycled content in their tires. Bekaert applies the best available recycled content definitions and traceability of materials. Bekaert’s tire reinforcement has a minimum recycled content of 50% for tire cord and 70% for bead wire. The rigorous processes at the supplier’s wire rod factory and at the Bekaert steel cord plant allow Bekaert to trace the content in the composition and separate this material from others in all steps of production, storage, and transport. Thus, it is guaranteed that the physical content of the steel cord and bead wire supplied to our customers contain the declared amount of recycled steel.

“This successful pilot is the first step toward setting a new industry standard for recycled content in tire reinforcement, and to making certified tire reinforcement with high recycled content available to our customers across the globe,” the release said.