Norwegian shipbuilder Vard has inked an agreement with Dutch company Van Oord for the design and construction of an eco-friendly cable-laying vessel for use in offshore wind farm installation activities.

Based on the VARD 9 02 design, the vessel will be developed with the latest technologies for the reduction of the carbon footprint during operations and port mooring, according to a statement by Van Oord.

Fuel versatility

In addition to running on biofuel, the hybrid vessel's engines will feature built-in flexibility to be powered with e-fuels, high-performance fuels and low emissions synfuels.

It will use a large battery pack, a shore supply connection and a state-of-the-art energy management system.

The vessel is designed to offer higher energy efficiency and lower carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulphur oxide emissions.

“Van Oord is committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions to become carbon-neutral by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. This investment emphasises our commitment to net-zero emissions,” Pieter van Oord, CEO of Van Oord, said in the release.

Operating features

The dynamically positioned vessel will become Van Oord's second cable-layer, joining the 2014-built Nexus, and will feature an intelligent cable lay control system and 3000 tonnes more in-cable capacity.

Equipped with a below-deck cable carousel and a second carousel on deck, the vessel has a total cable-carrying capacity of 8000 tonnes.

The vessel will mainly be deployed on inter-array grid and export cables of offshore wind projects and has the ability to install high-voltage direct current cables.

“Our ambition is to contribute to our customers achievements, through environmentally friendly vessels and technological solutions focusing on safety, sustainability and efficiency performance, and we are looking forward to developing this cable-layer together with Van Oord,” Alberto Maestrini, CEO of VARD, said in the release.

It will measure 130 metres in length and 28 metres across the beam and will be Dutch flagged.

The hull will be built at the Vard Tulcea shipyard in Romania and delivered from Vard Brattvaag in Norway.

Vard is a subsidiary of Italy's Fincantieri shipbuilding group.

Rigs And Vessels

Van Oord inks deal for eco-friendly cable lay vessel from Vard