Cable Laying Vessel Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Cable Type (Power Cable, Communication Cable), By End-User Industry (Oil and Gas, Wind Farms, Telecommunications, Others) and Regional Forecast, 2024-2032

Globalization has played a significant role in the promotion of internet and online content worldwide. The immense online content is stored in a few large servers stations worldwide. The quick and efficient delivery of data content from the server to the user depends on various factors. Subsea or submarine cables play an important role in this operation.  

Cable laying vessels are majorly responsible for installation, maintenance and decommissioning of subsea cables. Subsea optical fiber cables, unlike satellites, can accommodate heavy traffic without transmission delays. They are affected by land-based natural calamities which can harm the terrestrial communication infrastructure. Cable laying ships are used to lay cables in the depths of ocean floors. The ship-size depends on the depth at which the cables are to be arranged. Bigger vessels are used to lay cables at greater depth. These ships can lay one or multiple cables at a single time.

The ships have provision to join multiple cables if the distance covered by single cable is large. All these ships are also provided with repairing and maintenance facilities for rectifying broken cables. Cables are kept in holding tanks that spool out the cables with the help of a device, as the ship moves forward.  The cable laying equipment consists of a drum or pulley suspended from a crane which rolls the cable around it and puts it on the seafloor with the help of slots made in the ship’s astern.

The drum or pulley operation system can be pneumatic or hydraulic depending on the size and weight of the cables. The cables are buried in the sea bed with the help of a trenching system. Trenching system is used for cable laying at greater depths while in case of shallow waters, the directional drilling method is used. 

On the basis of cable types, the cable-laying vessel market can be segmented into Power cable and Communication Cable. Telecommunication companies are laying thousands of kilometers of optical fibers cable to connect countries and continents. These cables provide high-speed broadband connections. Based on industry vertical, cable laying vessel market is divided in Oil and Gas, Wind Farms, Telecommunications, and other. High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) subsea cables are used to connect offshore renewable power generation to the mainland.

The major market driver for the global cable-laying vessel market is the increasing demand for broadband connectivity and speed around the world. Broadband connectivity plays an important role to improve the lifestyle of people worldwide. The key market restraint for the global cable-laying vessel market is the adverse impact on marine ecology by the cables. The cable-laying operation is not only expensive but also poses a threat to marine flora and fauna

Key Players Covered

Some of the major companies that are present in the cable-laying vessel market are Van Oord, Seaway Offshore Cables, Kvaerner, Jan De Nul Group, Lewek Connector, Global Marine, Damen Shipyards Group, Royal IHC, Prysmian Group, Boskalis, Heinen & Hopman, Colombo Dockyard PLC, ABB, OSK-ShipTech A/S, ASEAN Cable ship Pte Ltd, Engineering Technology Applications Ltd and IHC Merwede.  

Segmentation

Regional Analysis

As the developed and the developing countries have drifted towards the use of the internet, the global cable-laying vessel market has now been spread into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Europe is the dominant player in the cable-laying vessel market. Europe is leading in both cable-laying vessel production and cable laying services. Several telecommunication cables are being laid between Africa and Europe. Europe has several offshore wind farms which are used for the production of electricity. HVDC subsea cables are used to transport power to the mainland. Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific subsea cables are being laid by private international firms like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, etc. to boost cloud connectivity and broadband speed.      

Key Industry Developments

• In June 2019, Sri Lanka's Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC) delivered the submarine cable-laying ship ‘KDDI Cable Infinity’ to Japan's Kokusai Cable Ship Co. The KDDI Cable Infinity is meant for subsea operation and cable installation and repair works of optical cables as well as power cables.


• In June 2019, Transmission system operator TenneT has awarded a cable supply contract worth around €140m to Prysmian for the 900MW Dolwin 5 offshore grid connection in the German North Sea. DolWin5 is set to go live in 2024 and will connect the wind farms Borkum Riffgrund West I and II and Northern Energy OWP West to the grid.