Vard Bags Electrical Work for UK Polar Research Ship

Vard Holdings Limited's subsidiary Vard Electro AS has secured a contract for the delivery of an engineering and electrical installation package for U.K.’s new $290 million polar research vessel under construction for the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

Vard’s contract signed with Cammell Laird Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders Ltd includes engineering resources to support the shipyard in the drawing approval process, complete electro installation onboard, and systems and products developed by Vard Electro. The value of the contract is nearly $12 million.

Expected to become operational in 2019, the 130-meter-long polar research vessel will be named RRS David Attenborough and will be equipped with VARD’s SeaQ Communications system, customized for the tailor-made vessel and including remote management.

Stig Bjørkedal, EVP Equipment & Solutions in VARD, said, “Vard Electro was chosen in competition with global players within the field of electro integration. We are grateful and proud to be selected in such tough competition and are pleased to learn that our vast experience with electro-integration in sophisticated vessels was a key for being selected. This contract shows that our strategy for external sales is yielding positive results, and proves our competitiveness and competence in electro integration.”

The high-tech vessel was designed by Rolls-Royce, who will also supply machinery and equipment for the vessel. The ship will be built at the modular construction hall at Cammell Laird’s site in Birkenhead on Merseyside.