Asso.subsea Completes Burial & Protection Oerations of the VikingLink Interconnector

Asso.subsea, a specialized installer in the submarine cable industry, announces the successful completion of the burial and protection operations for the Viking Link interconnector project. Once operational it will be the world’s longest onshore and offshore HVDC interconnector, joining Bicker Fen in Lincolnshire with Jutland in Denmark

Viking Link interconnector is a joint venture between National Grid and Energinet, and it is due to be fully operational by end of 2023.

Asso.subsea was contracted by Prysmian Group in 2020, to execute the seabed preparation, burial and protection works in a three-year campaign, from 2021 to 2023, with the involvement of four different vessels and seven subsea tools from the company’s extensive portfolio.

Mr. Giannis Kyrzidis, Director of Interconnectors Projects for Asso.subsea, commented: “This project is an incredible milestone for our company. We have been responsible for all the Seabed Preparation activities and the Post-lay Burial operations in extremely variegated soil conditions (from glacial till and very high-strength clay to very soft sand) for more than 600 km of cable route, both in shallow and deep waters. We have demonstrated once again the validity of our holistic approach to the protection of submarine cable interconnections, thanks to a fully vertically integrated solution that is absolutely unique in the market.”

Asso.subsea is currently the only submarine cable installation company that owns and operates three main Trenching Support Vessels (Aethra, Argo and Athena) fully dedicated to the execution of burial works, in combination with one of the widest worldwide portfolios of trenching tools that are fully designed, manufactured and operated by its own Robotics division.

Over the past few years, Asso.subsea has moved ahead with major investments in its fleet and equipment, introducing new and upgraded assets, with multiple state-of-the-art vessels and a full range of cable protection equipment, and fundamentally growing its capacity and capabilities in order to face the challenges of the offshore wind and interconnectors markets.