Taiwan-based Dong Fang Offshore (DFO) has signed a shipbuilding contract with Norwegian shipyard Westcon for the delivery of a subsea and cable laying vessel (CLV), a move said to come due to the need for installation capacity in Taiwan, as another DFO vessel will be working in Europe until the end of 2028.
Under the agreement, Westcon Yard will take over and complete the construction of a large CLV currently underway, with the contracted delivery date set for the first quarter of 2027.
In addition to supporting the firm’s recent business growth and expansion plans, DFO said that the new vessel order replaces cable installation capacity lost in Taiwan following the recent exercise of the 2028 option for the Orient Adventurer by DeepOcean , taking the vessel firm to the end of 2028 in Europe, with further options until 2031.
“The decision for this new CLV is driven by the successful extension of the Orient Adventurer’s contract, and as such a new vessel is required to replace her for subsea cable projects DFO have already secured in 2028 in APAC,” DFO’s CEO said.
“Considering the vessel’s delivery schedule, secured contract backlog, competitive building price, and future business development, we are looking forward to welcome our second CLV to the fleet. This addition will add much needed capacity to support our customers offshore energy ambitions, and secures DFO’s long term future as a leading APAC based contractor.”
With the addition of the new CLV, DFO’s operated fleet will include two highly-specialized large CLVs, two construction support vessels (CSVs) with cable repair capability, three service operations vessels (SOVs), one DP1 survey vessel, two anchor handling tugs, seven crew transport vessels (CTVs), one cargo barge, and one newly acquired DP2 multicat.
To remind, Norwegian shipbuilder VARD is currently constructing an offshore subsea construction vessel for DFO, for which a keel laying ceremony was held at the end of November .