16-year-old vessel returns to VARD for conversion

A Canadian company active in the offshore oil & gas and energy sectors has appointed Norway’s VARD to convert a platform supply vessel (PSV) that it built 16 years ago into a cable-laying vessel (CLV).

I.T. International Telecom Marine (IT) is a Halifax-based marine network installer offering desktop study, marine route survey, engineering design, installation and maintenance services for submarine cable systems in the offshore oil & gas, energy, telecommunications, military and scientific research markets.

The PSV was built at Vard Brattvaag and delivered to Volstad Maritime in 2008 under the name Volstad Princess. SD Standard Drilling acquired the vessel in 2017 before it was sold to IT in 2021 and renamed IT Infinity. The vessel now returns to VARD for the conversion.

Vard Electro is involved in the project through the installation of cable and new switchboards as well as updating existing electrical systems.

The work will be carried out by Vard Brattvaag in Norway and the vessel is expected to be delivered in Q3 2024.

“We are proud that IT chose VARD as their partner for this conversion. We will now use our core competence and long experience in design and construction of advanced cable laying vessels to meet IT Telecom’s needs in the market. This project demonstrates VARD’s strength with our fully integrated value chain and it confirms our position in the aftermarket,” said Wilhelm Eggesbø, SVP Vard Services at VARD.