At the Norwegian facility Vard Langsten, the delivery took place, by the shipyard Vard (Fincantieri), of a hybrid construction and cable-laying vessel to the Japanese company Toyo Constructions.
This is the first vessel that the major Japanese construction company has ordered from Vard and the first vessel that Vard has delivered to the Japanese wind farm market. Tatsuyoshi Nakamura, CEO and President of Toyo, stated: “We are honored to celebrate this milestone together with Vard and the many stakeholders who have contributed to making this vessel a reality. As we prepare for full-scale operations in Japan, we remain committed to creating long-term value for our customers, partners, and the communities in which we operate.”
The vessel was outfitted, commissioned, and delivered on schedule by Vard Langsten, while the hull was built at the Vard Shipyards Romania – Tulcea shipyards. The President of the Vard Group, Alberto Maestrini, also present at the ceremony, stated: “Vard is proud to deliver this complex and modern vessel to Toyo Construction. It is the result of a solid collaboration between Toyo Construction, Class NK, and Vard Group, which, thanks to its great engineering flexibility and acquired expertise, achieved full compliance with Japanese classification and flag standards, working together as one team. With its dual capability, it will be the largest cable-laying vessel in Japan.”
The custom-built vessel is 151 meters long and 28 meters wide, with a cable carrying capacity of 9,000 tons. In addition to being used as a self-propelled cable-laying vessel, it is equipped with a high-performance crane and a large deck area, making it suitable for multifunctional applications such as ground foundation work, mooring work for floating offshore wind platforms, and marine resource projects. The vessel will also be equipped with a 4-point mooring system and a helipad. The vessel is fitted with a removable cable-laying system and 2 offshore cranes, making it adaptable to a variety of offshore work.
Vard also specified that “the vessel has been developed with the latest sustainable technologies to reduce the carbon footprint during operations and while at berth in port. It will be equipped with a large battery pack, a shore power connection, and a state-of-the-art energy management system. This sustainable configuration will result in greater energy efficiency, reducing CO2, NOx, and SOx emissions.”
The hybrid electric cable-laying and construction vessel will be of the Vard 9 15 type, a design developed specifically to meet the customer’s needs in order to respond to the growing Japanese offshore wind farm market and to operate globally. It will have a hull optimized to suit natural and construction conditions in Japan, allowing use in both shallow and deep waters for floating offshore wind power generation and direct current power transmission projects. It will be capable of performing construction work at high operational speed across a wide range of ocean areas.
