By Transparency Market Research

Transparency Market Research delivers key insights on the global cable laying vessel market. In terms of revenue, the global cable laying vessel market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 3 per cent during the forecast period, owing to numerous factors regarding which TMR offers thorough insights and forecast in its report on the global cable laying vessel market.

Submarine cables provide high-speed broadband connectivity and Internet capacity for large geographic areas that are often important centers of trade and communication. Submarine cables alleviate existing capacity constraints and meet the demand for future growth. These features of submarine cables are driving their adoption in the telecommunications sector for transmitting data from one point to another.

According to the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC), approximately 99 per cent of the world’s communications are provided by subsea cables. Cable laying vessels are utilized for the installation or repairing of these cables. Thus, expansion of the telecommunications industry and the subsequent expansion of network of submarine cables is anticipated to boost the cable laying vessel market in the near future.

Cable Laying Vessel Market: Dynamics

Companies around the globe have been investing significantly in the development of offshore wind farms since the past few years. Offshore wind technology allows countries to exploit the generally higher and sometimes smoother wind resources offshore, while achieving gigawatt-scale projects close to the densely populated coastal areas prevalent in several parts of the world. This makes offshore wind an important addition to the portfolio of low carbon technologies available to decarbonize the energy sector of numerous countries.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the offshore market is estimated to expand significantly over the next three decades, with the total installed offshore wind capacity rising nearly 10 times, from just 23 GW in 2018 to 228 GW in 2030 and about 1,000 GW in 2050. Offshore wind would represent nearly 17 per cent of the total global installed wind capacity of 6?044?GW by 2050. This reflects an average CAGR of 11.5 per cent for the next three decades, which is well below the historical average of 38.5 per cent between 2000 and 2018, implying the feasibility and ease of scaling up offshore wind installations by just continuing the historical pace.

Currently, 90% of global installed offshore wind capacity is commissioned and operated in the North Sea and nearby Atlantic Ocean. In 2020, almost 6.06?GW of new offshore wind capacity was added; most of this was concentrated in China (close to 50% of the total), with much of the growth in capacity in the Netherlands and Belgium. The deployment is projected to expand to North America and Oceania with projects that would be developed over the next few years. The offshore wind market is likely to expand at a significant pace, with several emerging markets setting targets for offshore deployment.

Cable Laying Vessel Market: Prominent Regions

Investments in development of clean technologies such as wind for power generation are rising significantly in Europe. The implementation of stringent regulations to limit GHG emissions from power generation facilities is a prominent factor driving the utilization of renewable resources for power generation. Several countries in Europe also offer incentives and financial assistance to promote the adoption of renewable resources. These incentives include feed-in tariff, quota-based tradable green certificates, investment subsidies, and tax cuts. Offshore wind energy is one of the prominent sources of renewable energy across the region. Subsea cable is required in an offshore wind farm to transmit power from offshore location. This cable is laid in the seabed by cable laying vessels. Thus, rise in investment in production of renewable power, including offshore wind farm, is anticipated to create lucrative opportunities for the cable laying vessel market.

The telecommunications industry in Asia Pacific has been expanding significantly due to rapid infrastructure development, growth in urbanization, and increase in purchasing power of end users in the region. The increase in the number of mobile subscribers is also attracting investments in the telecommunications sector. The total number of unique mobile subscribers in Asia Pacific stood at around 2.8 billion in 2018 compared to around 2.7 billion in 2017. The number of mobile Internet users in Asia Pacific has increased significantly of late. The number of mobile Internet users stood at around 1.9 billion in 2018. The mobile industry contributed around US$ 1.9 Trn toward GDP in 2018, which was around 5.4 per cent of total GDP. The number of smartphone users in the region stood at around 61 per cent in 2018; of these, 51 per cent users had 4G connections. The rise in the number of mobile subscribers has created a strain on existing cables. In turn, this has created the demand to lay new subsea cables to transmit data. This is anticipated to boost the cable laying vessel market in Asia Pacific.

The cable laying vessel market in Middle East & Africa expanded at a steady pace in 2020. The growth of the market in the region can be ascribed to the installation of subsea cables to boost the production of oil field. For instance, in April 2019, Jan De Nul Group, a Luxembourg-based offshore energy and dredging Services Company, completed the cable installation scope for the Phase II full field development of ADNOC’s NASR offshore oilfield, located 130 km off the coast of Abu Dhabi.

The cable laying project is part of ADNOC’s development program to increase the field’s capacity to 65,000 barrels of oil per day (b/d). The constant rise in the demand for oil and gas as feedstock in the refining sector has led to an increase in investment of oil and gas operators in the development of oilfields. The ongoing installation of subsea cables is anticipated to create lucrative opportunities for cable laying vessels, as these vessels are used to lay subsea cable. This is estimated to boost the cable laying vessel market in the near future.

The US has been holding minor share of the global cable laying vessel market since the past few years, due to the presence of just one active cable laying/repair ship in the country. However, the expansion of the telecom industry is anticipated to propel the demand for cable laying vessels. The rise in investment on installation of subsea cables in the telecommunications sector is also a major factor boosting the telecom industry. For instance, in June 2021, Google announced plans to build an open subsea cable that will run from the East Coast of the US to Las Toninas, Argentina, with additional landings in Praia Grande, Brazil, and Punta del Este, Uruguay.

Cable Laying Vessel Market: Key Players

Key players operating in the global cable laying vessel market are Van Oord, Prysmian Group, NEXANS, NKT A/S, Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V., DEEPOCEAN, Royal IHC, Damen Shipyards Group, ASEAN Cableship Pte Ltd., Seaway 7, E-Marine PJSC, Orange Marine, Global Marine, and NTT WORLD ENGINEERING MARINE CORPORATION.