NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) has signed a charter contract with U.K.-based Global Marine Systems Limited (*1) for an optical submarine cable-laying ship for approximately four years. Through this contract, NEC will strengthen its provision of submarine cable systems and respond to expanding demand for submarine cables due to the increase in global data traffic.
NEC has been a leading global vendor in the submarine cable system business for over 50 years, manufacturing submarine cables, submarine repeaters, and terminal station equipment (*2), in addition to coordinating marine surveys and route design, equipment installation work, cable laying, training and delivery testing. Until now, NEC has procured submarine cable-laying ships for each project separately.
In order to respond to the growing demand for new submarine cables due to the recent spread of 5G and the increase in data traffic between data centers in various countries, NEC has chartered a long-term dedicated cable-laying ship for the first time.
As a result, NEC will provide submarine cable systems more quickly and flexibly than ever before to meet customer demand.
Outline of the submarine cable-laying ship:
| Name | Normand Clipper (IMO:9236200) |
| Registry | Norway |
| Owner | Solstad Rederi AS |
| Length | 127 meters |
| Cable load | 5,000 tons* |
| Charter period | September 2022 to May 2026 (45 months) |
*The ship can carry approximately 7,000 kilometers of cable in a typical configuration.
(*1)HQ: Essex, U.K., CEO: Bruce Neilson-Watts
(*2)The submarine cable is manufactured by NEC subsidiary OCC Corporation (HQ: Yokohama, Japan, Representative Director, President: Tomokazu Ito). Submarine relaying devices are manufactured by NEC Platforms Ltd. (HQ: Tokyo, Japan, President and Representative Director: Noritaka Taguma).