Vard inks NOK 5bn deal for 3 Norwegian coast guard vessels

Norwegian shipbuilder and designer Vard has signed a new contract for the construction of three coast guard vessels for the Norwegian Coast Guard.

As informed, the value of the contract exceeds NOK 5 billion, equal to about USD 617 million.

The Norwegian government had originally announced plans for the construction of three new coast guard vessels in September 2016. Following review of offers from three competing yards, Vard Langsten was selected to continue negotiations in October 2017. The investments were approved by the country’s parliament at the beginning of June 2018, with the final negotiations having been completed and finalized in the following weeks.

Deliveries of the three vessels are scheduled from Vard Langsten in Norway in Q1 2022, Q1 2023 and Q1 2024, respectively. The hulls will be built at Vard Tulcea in Romania.

To be built to replace the aging Nordkapp-class coast guard vessels, the new ships are developed for worldwide operations in all weather and sea conditions, both inshore and offshore. Specially designed to withstand operations in demanding arctic areas, the new coast guard vessels will have an ice-strengthened hull and ice-class notation. With a length of 136 meters and a beam of 22 meters, the vessels feature strong ocean-going capacities for long-distance transits, search-and-rescue operations, surveillance, and oil recovery.

Vard, a subsidiary of Fincantieri, has based its offer on the reference design developed by LMG Marin on behalf of Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA).

Commenting on the recently signed contract, Mette Sørfonden, Director General of NDMA, said: “Due to national security interests, the Norwegian government decided that the competition should be restricted to Norwegian yards only. Vard Group with its Vard Langsten yard was the provider that overall satisfied the defined requirements for solution and the navy and the coast guard’s needs in the best manner.”

Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA) / Forsvarsmateriell (FMA) is an agency directly subordinate to the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Defence and its main task is to develop and modernize the Norwegian armed forces.