Solstad Offshore has recently announced that the company has signed a Letter of Intent with a major international offshore contractor to build and operate a new build large offshore subsea construction vessel and a LOI with VARD Group to build this vessel. Both LoI’s have now been converted to firm contracts.
The client will charter the vessel for a minimum of 8 years from delivery, scheduled to be 2Q 2016.
The vessel is a VARD 3 19 design, developed by Vard Design in Ålesund. The hull will be built at Vard Tulcea in Romania, while outfitting of the vessel will take place at Vard Brattvaag in Norway.
The vessel, which will become the largest in the Solstad-fleet, will have a 550-ton top tension vertical lay-system, enabling the installation of large diameter flexible pipes in ultra-deepwater environments. In addition, it will be equipped with a 900 ton active heave compensated offshore crane and a 4.000 ton under-deck carousel for storage of flexible pipes, cables and umbilicals. The vessel will be about 180 meters long, have a beam of 33 meters and a deck area of more than 2.500 m2.