VARD to deliver ‘highly customized’ hybrid cable lay & construction vessel to Japan

Norway’s VARD has secured a contract worth over $200 million to deliver a highly customized hybrid power cable lay and construction vessel to what it says is a leading Japanese construction company.

The contract was signed with Toyo Construction, a Japanese general construction company that operates civil and architecture construction businesses domestically and internationally, and owns a variety of working vessels and constructs a wide range of projects such as container terminals and marine airports, VARD said.

“We are happy and proud to welcome Toyo Constructions as a customer in VARD. Being selected as their shipbuilder of choice shows that we are on top of the market and the evolving demands,” said VARD CEO Alberto Maestrini. “We are drawing on our long experience as integrated shipbuilders to make pioneering ideas sustainable investments and make the maritime opportunities possible. We look forward to the collaboration with Toyo Constructions.”

The new vessel will be of VARD 9 15 design, said to be specially developed for the need of the customer to cater to the Japanese offshore wind market, as well as to operate worldwide. It will have an optimal hull design 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 150-meter-long vessel, with a beam of 28 meters and cable carrying capacity of 9,000 tons, will be prepared for inter-array, HVAC export and interconnector cable lay, as well as cable burial operation and construction work.

According to VARD, besides being used as a self-propelled cable-laying vessel, the vessel has a high-performance crane and a large deck area, making it suitable for multi-purpose applications such as ground-based foundation work, floating wind mooring work, and marine resource-related projects. The vessel will also have a four-point mooring system and helideck installed.

The vessel will be powered by five main gensets and two batteries. It will have a maximum transit speed of 13 knots and will comprise 90 single cabins for 90 persons on board.

Vard Electro will deliver SeaQ equipment and solutions, including SeaQ Power with energy storage systems, switchboards, and shore connection, and the network, entertainment and communication systems on board, while Vard Interiors will deliver interior solutions and green HVAC R system.

The hull will be built at Vard Shipyards Romania in Tulcea and be outfitted and delivered from one of VARD’s shipyards in Norway in Q2 2026.

“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. 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,” Toyo Construction’s President, Haruhisa Obayashi, said.

Earlier this year, Toyo Construction and Japanese-based Mitsui O.S.K Lines (MOL) established a joint venture focusing on offshore wind power generation, through which they want to create stronger synergies in a wide range of areas related to offshore wind, including survey planning, procurement of work vessels, and offshore construction.