The vessels are to be built to the Vard 9 21 design, which was developed for shallow river operation. The construction of the vessel will be split between three yards with five being built at Vard Bralia, and four Vard Tulcea – both in Romania – the other six at Vard Vung Tau in Vietnam.
The vessels costing close to $300m in total according to Vard are due to be delivered between third quarter 2017 and second quarter 2018.
“Vard’s longstanding shipbuilding traditions, cutting-edge innovation and technology perfectly complement Topaz’s reputation for providing quality and bespoke services to meet our client’s needs,” said René Kofod-Olsen, ceo of Topaz.
The vessels will be operated by Topaz through a consortium led by Blue Water Shipping for the end-client Tengizchevroil to transport modules through the Russian waterways to oilfields in Kazakhstan. The contract for the vessels from Q2 2018 is worth over $350m and for a minimum of three years. The 123 m by 16.5 m vessels are designed to carry high deck loads of up to 1,800 tons.
The deal brings Topaz's order backlog to $1.6bn
“Vard has long history of projects for the Caspian region, with seven vessels specifically developed for shallow-water operations delivered since 2010,” commented Roy Reite, ceo and executive director of Vard.
“Topaz currently operates three vessels built by Vard in the Caspian, and has two light construction vessels for international operations on order from Vard.”
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
