Cadeler to Order Two X-Class Wind Farm Installation Vessels

Cadeler A/S intends to expand its fleet with two newbuild X-class vessels for installation services, operation, and maintenance work on offshore wind farms.

To finance the fleet expansion, Cadeler has completed an oversubscribed private placement, issuing 23,000,000 new shares in the company at a price of NOK 34.50 per share. The total proceeds of the private placement amount to NOK 794 million (EUR 80 million) which will be used to finance the fleet expansion.

In conjunction with Cadeler’s IPO, the company announced the intent to acquire the first new-build X-class vessel.

Due to accelerating market demand, Cadeler has decided to ramp up capacity even more with the planned order of a second new X-class vessel. The fleet’s installation capacity will be more than doubled when the new X-class vessels are delivered, Cadeler said.

”We maintain a close partnership with our clients to understand their future need for capacity and fleet capabilities. Our aim is to support the green transition by building offshore wind farms. The delivery of two new vessels is great news for the offshore wind market, Cadeler, and the green transition as we see an accelerated need for installation capacity via more sophisticated vessels,” said Mikkel Gleerup, CEO at Cadeler A/S.

Cadeler (formerly Swire Blue Ocean) originally announced the intention to contract the first new X-class vessel in September 2020.

The new design for the ship was created in close partnership with GustoMSC and is a bespoke version of the NG-20000X-G design. The vessel will be able to operate at some of the most difficult sites globally and with the largest equipment in the industry, Cadeler said.

Cadeler has yet to announce which shipyard will be awarded the contract for the two newbuild vessels. The company expects the two new X-class vessels to be completed by 2024 and 2025, at which point they will become operational and ready to assist the company’s clients going forward.

The vessels will feature main cranes with a lifting capacity of a minimum of 2,000 tons at 53 metres. The hook height above the deck will be over 200 metres, and variable load will be over 17,000 tons.

The vessels will also offer 5,600 square metres of deck space each and will be able to accommodate up to 130 persons.

”Since we announced the intention to expand our fleet with the first new build X-class vessel, we have seen massive interest in the market for this state-of-the-art ship and the capabilities it represents. This, combined with the general level of activity we are seeing in the market, has led us to the conclusion that we needed to order two and not just one of these new vessels,” said Gleerup.

The interest that the company has seen from clients has been primarily focused around the increased transit capacity which the X-class vessels offer, lowering the energy intensity of installation, reducing installation time, and thereby lowering the total cost of installing offshore wind farms, Cadeler said.