VARD, Norwegian subsidiary of the Fincantieri Group and among the leading companies in the construction of specialised vessels, has signed a contract for the design and construction of one state-of-the-art Energy Construction Vessel (ECV) for Wind Energy Construction AS, a Norwegian company partly owned by Norwind Offshore AS founders. The parties have also agreed on an option for one further vessel.
The new unit, scheduled for delivery in Q2 2027, will be built, outfitted, commissioned, and delivered from the Vard Vung Tau shipyard in Vietnam. It will feature a length of 111.5m and a beam of 22.4m and be able to accommodate 120 people on board.
The new ECV will be based on the VARD 3 11 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 vessel will be VARD’s first to include a permanently installed Electric Controlled Motion Compensated (ECMC) gangway with integrated 3D-compensated crane capabilities.
It will also be fitted with a 150-ton motion-compensated offshore crane to support the expanding renewables market.
This is the sixth vessel the owners of Norwind Offshore have contracted with VARD, with the five previous vessels being Commissioning Service Operation Vessels (CSOV).