Vard Holdings has secured a newbuilding order worth $300m for 15 module carrier vessels from Topaz Energy and Marine. They have been specially developed by Vard Design to navigate Russia’s shallow river systems to transport modules to Kazakhstan.Measuring 123 by 16.5 meters, the vessels are designed to carry high deck loads of up to 1800t. Deliveries will start in late 2017 and end by the middle of 2018.
They will be operated by Topaz through a consortium led by Blue Water Shipping for the end-client Tengizchevroil.
Five of the vessels will be built at Vard Braila and four at Vard Tulcea in Romania, while the remaining six will be built at Vard Vung Tau in Vietnam.
“VARD has long history of projects for the Caspian region, with seven vessels specifically developed for shallow-water operations delivered since 2010,” said Vard chief executive Roy Reite.
“Topaz currently operates three vessels built by Vard in the Caspian, and has two light construction vessels for international operations on order from Vard.
“This project strengthens our relationship with Topaz and our foothold in the region. It also provides significant employment for our Romanian and Vietnam yards for the next two years, at a time when investment in new vessels for the oil and gas sector is limited elsewhere.”
News of the contract win comes as Vard Holdings reports a return to profit in the first quarter of 2016, according to figures released Thursday.
The Singapore-listed company achieved net income of NOK 43m ($5.3m) versus a loss of NOK 226m seen in the same period in 2015.
However, the shipbuilder reported a 34% decline in revenue to NOK 2bn for the quarter due to a temporary slowdown in yard activities.
“This is a year of transformation for Vard, and in the first quarter we delivered a strong start,” said Reite.
“We are encouraged by the customer response to our foray into new markets, especially in the expedition cruise and aquaculture segments.
With the contract for the design and construction of Module Carrier Vessels for Topaz, we demonstrate that even within the oil and gas sector, there are still attractive opportunities.
At the same time, we need to be mindful that our core markets still present formidable challenges, both for our clients and for us.
“The strong support from our main shareholder, Fincantieri, and the increasing cooperation between our companies gives me confidence that we will master these challenges successfully.”
