From a Genius to a Masterpiece

Prysmian is the first Italian company ever to receive the award, and it marks the first time in eight years that the winning vessel is owned by a non-Norwegian shipping company.

While the Prysmian Monna Lisa is the sister ship of Prysmian Leonardo da Vinci, delivered by Vard Brattvaag in 2021, they are not identical. As the designers at Vard themselves put it: this is a further development of an already excellent vessel.

This year’s winning ship was also built at record speed. 

In May, I had the pleasure of sitting down with project manager Per Gunnar Søvik and yard director Arnt Inge Gjerde, who shared the story of how such a large vessel could be completed in such a short timeframe – and, remarkably, despite the summer holiday break.

As someone who occasionally feels overwhelmed by a pile of laundry that needs folding, I listened with awe to their story.

Søvik and Gjerde pointed to the unique culture at the yard – a culture where people step up for one another and for the success of the project.

“The fact that the workforce sees the yard as ours, and that we work for each other, is incredibly valuable. It may sound like a cliché, but that’s truly how it is at Søviknes,” says Søvik, who has many years of experience at the yard.

“It creates a strong sense of team spirit,” Gjerde adds. “The Søviknes crew isn’t afraid of new challenges. It’s quite remarkable to stay motivated for the kind of pace we kept up last autumn.”

Respect is due.

The design team at Vard Design has created a stunning vessel, both inside and out. But most importantly, it’s capable of doing the job it was built for: laying subsea cables at depths exeeding 3,000 metres – as efficiently as possible.

And they’ve succeeded, brilliantly.

 “We’ve taken the design and improved it. But there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel,” says Christian Utvik, Chief Sales Officer at VARD.

Wise words indeed.

We extend our congratulations to all the winners: Vard Søviknes, Vard Design – and, not least, Prysmian – as the well-deserved recipients of the Ship of the Year 2025 award.