The Vard Group is a major global shipbuilding and design group, which specialises in building vessels for the offshore oil and gas exploration, production and service industries.
VARD operates ten shipbuilding facilities in Norway, Romania, Brazil and Vietnam. The group offers services such as ship design, shipbuilding, repair and conversion. In addition to accommodation, the company provides electrical engineering, equipment packages, power and automation, and piping systems and installations.
Naval architecture and marine engineering services
The naval architecture and marine engineering services provided by subsidiary Vard Marine cover a wide range of applications, including ship design and production technology, total equipment and service packages. Vard Marine also offers support for offshore and domestic shipbuilding activities, transportation studies, economic and feasibility studies, research and analytical investigations, model testing and full-scale sea trials.
Vard Marine employs specialised analysis engineers, whose expertise in innovative, cutting-edge technology in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), finite element analysis (FEA), seakeeping and manoeuvring provides practical, cost-effective results for the client.
Offshore services and specialised vessels
Venturing into deeper and harsher waters, increasing health, safety and environmental standards, and a continuous drive for efficiency increases the demand for more advanced vessels and highlights the importance of cooperation between ship designers, builders and owners.
When Vard Marine designs an advanced offshore or specialised vessel we focus on quality, solid reliability and the long term operation of the vessel. Ship design is about commitment and customization and about solving new challenges through cooperation, engineering and technology development. Our customers will experience the same dedication and flexibility regardless of the vessel type.
Award winning designs
With a large portfolio of successful and proven ship designs, Vard Marine has developed a number of industry-leading and award-winning designs for the offshore industry.
In 2011, the Vard 1 300 ‘Dwight Ramsay’ was awarded Significant Ship of the Year by Workboat magazine, in 2013, the Vard 3 310 ‘Harvey Deep Sea’, designed for Harvey Gulf International Marine, was awarded ‘Vessel of the Year’ at the International Workboat Show and in 2014 the Vard 1 310 series for Hornbeck Offshore is also being awarded ‘Vessel of the Year’ at the International Workboat Show.
In 2014, the CSS ‘Olympia’ compact semi-submersible design won ‘Offshore Support Vessel of the Year’ at the most prestigious OSJ awards in London. Most recently, American Ship Review voted the Vard 1 311 LNG vessel ‘Harvey Energy’ ship of the year for 2014. Subsequent to this design, the company received a US patent for dual-fuel liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels. This vessel will be the first US Flag vessels to operate on either natural gas or diesel fuel oil.
About Vard Marine
In July 2014, the Vard Group acquired Vard Marine, formerly STX Canada Marine, an industry-leading consulting naval architect and marine engineering company with more than 30 years of design experience. The company employs 85 staff and has three regional offices in Vancouver, Ottawa and Houston.
The acquisition has fulfilled a strategic goal by the Vard Group to gain a stronger presence in the US market, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico, as the industry is leaning towards more complex and sophisticated vessels that can perform in harsh conditions.