Vard wins $200 million Toyo Construction cable layer contract

Image: Vard

Fincantieri reports that its Norwegian subsidiary Vard has signed a contract worth more than $200 million to design and construct a hybrid-powered cable-laying and construction vessel for Japan’s Toyo Construction.

The hull will be built at the Vard Tulcea shipyard in Romania and will be outfitted and delivered from one of Vard’s shipyards in Norway in second quarter 2026.

The DP2 vessel will be built to VARD 9 15 design, a design developed to meet Toyo Construction’s requirements to cater for the growing Japanese offshore wind farm market and for worldwide operations. It will have a hull optimized to suit the natural and construction conditions in Japan, allowing it to be used in both shallow waters and deep waters for floating offshore wind power generation and DC power transmission projects.

The vessel will be prepared for Inter-array, HVAC export and interconnector cable lay as well as cable burial operation and construction work.

Measuring 150 meters long, it will have a beam of 28 meters, a depth of 12 meters and a cable carrying capacity of 9,000 tonnes. Accommodations will be provided for 90 persons (all single cabins, fully equipped with shower and restroom)

In addition to being used as a self-propelled cable-laying vessel, the vessel has a high-performance crane with a lifting capacity of 250 tonnes / 100 tonnes (with active heave compensation) along with a large deck area, making it suitable for multi-purpose applications such as ground-based foundation work, floating offshore wind mooring work, and marine resource-related projects. It will also have a 4-point mooring system and helideck installed.

The vessel is developed with the latest sustainable technologies to reduce the carbon footprint during operations and port mooring. Powered by five main gensets and and a large battery pack, a shore supply connection, and a state-of-the-art energy management system, it will have a maximum transit speed of 13 knots and will be a . This sustainable set-up will result in higher energy efficiency reducing CO2, NOx, and SOx emissions.

“We are happy to present this vessel to Toyo,” said Torgeir Haugan, SVP sales & marketing at Vard. “The cable layer is a modern and complex vessel of high standards built according to Japanese regulations primarily for the Japanese offshore wind farm and international market, making it a unique opportunity for both Toyo and Vard to be established as a key player in the Japanese wind farm market.”

Vard subsidiary Vard Electro is also involved in the project, delivering SeaQ equipment and solutions, including SeaQ Power with energy storage systems, switchboards, and shore connection. It is also delivering the network, entertainment – and communication systems on board.

Vard Interiors will deliver modern Interior solutions and green HVAC R system aiming to create a good living and working environment onboard the vessel.

“We are very pleased to place an order with Vard to build a self-propelled cable-laying vessel, which will be Toyo Construction’s largest work vessel,” said Toyo Construction’s president, Haruhisa Obayashi. “We expect that Vard’s world-class design and engineering capabilities will enable the vessel to play an important role in the construction of offshore wind power generation facilities in Japan.”