The vessel was built between 1985 and 1987 by Fincantieri-Cantieri Navali Italiana S.p.A. at their Monfalcone yard, Trieste in north-eastern Italy.

The hull mating was complete in early 1987 and the two cranes built by Officine Meccaniche Reggiane under subcontract to American Hoist & Derrick Company (Amhoist) were installed in sections by the Saipem crane vessel Castoro Otto in April of that year.

The sea trials, which took two months, started in September, and on 15 December the vessel was handed over to Micoperi.

It would also be able to support the offshore completion of the platform by providing hotel and workshop facilities for large construction crews.

Prior to the introduction of the large crane vessels, offshore oil platforms were made up of 1000 - 2000 tonne modules which were lifted into place individually by smaller SSCVs or monohull crane vessels and then connected together offshore, tested and then commissioned; this often took over a year.

The free flooding system used 2 m diameter valves to open certain compartments to the sea thus trimming or heeling the vessel.

The vessel's main power is provided by eight 12-cylinder 8400 hp diesel engines built by Grandi Motori Trieste, a former Fincantieri company.

The Saipem 7000 has completed 4 J-Lay pipe projects Diana, Blue Stream, Ormen Lange and Medgaz, but its main work continues to be heavy lift in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

It is currently deployed in the North Sea, approximately 27km east of Montrose, Scotland, installing the 114 jacket foundations for Seagreen offshore wind farm.

The Saipem 7000 set the world offshore lifting record of 12,150 tons for the Sabratha deck in the Mediterranean Sea.

In July 2010, the Saipem 7000 broke another world record by lifting the new BP Valhall Production and Hotel topside of approximately 11,600 tonnes on Dynamic Positioning.

The previous world record set at Sabratha was performed on the vessel's anchoring system.

The first and third records were broken on 7 September 2019 when the Sleipnir lifted the 15,300 ton deck module for Noble's Leviathan.

[1] The Saipem 7000 laid the 24" pipeline for the Blue Stream project between Russia and Turkey up to the record depth of 2,150 meters in the Black Sea.

[1] On 14 April 2022, the vessel suffered a lifting accident in a Norwegian fjord near Stavanger during a planned load test of the cranes.