Fincantieri-owned in majority designer and shipbuilder Vard has secured a contract for the design and construction of one energy construction vessel (ECV) with Norwegian company Wind Energy Construction AS, partly owned by the founders and owners of Norwind Offshore AS.
Norway’s shipbuilder Vard has also agreed on an option for one additional vessel which can be declared later this year.
This is the sixth vessel the owners of Norwind Offshore have contracted with Vard since October 2021. The five previous vessels were commissioning service operation vessels (CSOVs).
The so-called energy construction vessel (ECV) will be of Vard 3 11 design, a design tailor-made for the offshore wind and subsea market, including inspection, maintenance and repair of pipes, and construction and installation of infrastructure above and below sea level.
This is the first construction vessel Vard will build with a motion-compensated gangway (walk-to-work) permanently installed.
A walk-to-work electric controlled motion compensated (ECMC) gangway with integrated 3D compensated crane functionality will be installed.
A movement-compensated offshore crane of 150 tons is also being installed.
The 111,5 meters-long vessel will be built, outfitted, commissioned and delivered from Vard Vung Tau in Vietnam and is scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter of 2027.
“The concept builds on vessels within the construction market which we have previously built with VARD, and we feel confident that this will play an important role in the development of, among other things, offshore wind in the coming years,” said Svein Leon Aure, chief executive in Norwind Offshore.
