A steel-cutting ceremony has been held for Norwind Offshore’s Commissioning Service Operations Vessel (CSOV) hull 950 at Vard Vung Tau in Vietnam.
The CSOV will be built and delivered by Vard Vung Tau, scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2024.
The vessel is of VARD 4 19 design, developed by Vard Design in Ålesund, Norway, and is tailor-made for worldwide services and maintenance operations at offshore wind farms.
Norwind Offshore ordered two CSOVs from Vard back in October 2021. Under the contract, the first vessel will be outfitted and delivered from Vard in Norway in the second quarter of 2023, with the hull being built at Vard Braila in Romania.
A year later, the company exercised its options for two additional CSOVs to be built by Vard. The CSOVs are scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2025.
At the beginning of this year, Vard revealed that the first newbuild hull 949 for Norwind Offshore arrived at Vard Brattvaag in Norway for final outfitting.
The VARD 4 19s are 85-metre vessels with a beam of 19.5 metres. They will be equipped with a height-adjustable motion-compensated gangway with an elevator system and a height-adjustable boat landing system and be prepared for battery solutions. The CSOVs will accommodate 87 persons on board, with an option to increase to 120 persons.