Ha Long Shipbuilding Company signed a contract to build six wind power service ships for the Netherlands’ Damen Shipyards Group on Wednesday.
The ships, known as commissioning service operation vessels (CSOVs), 8720 model, can ensure stability amid high winds and waves to help deliver staff and equipment to offshore wind power turbines for repairs and maintenance, said Nguyen Tuan Anh, CEO of the Quang Ninh province-based shipbuilder.
This is the first time a Vietnamese firm has secured a contract to build these ships for export, Anh added.
The vessels have a width of 19.7 meters, a length of 88 meters, and gross tonnage of 6,700 tons.
Pim Schuurman, Damen's Regional Sales Manager Asia Pacific, lauded the deal as the resumption of cooperation between the two firms, after a period of global economic slowdown and disruption to the global maritime transportation market.
The Vietnamese shipbuilder, a member of Vietnam's Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, had earlier cooperated with Damen to build ships for Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance, tugs, platform supply vessels for oil-gas drills, crane barges, and multipurpose amphibious ship-landing crafts.
In 2022, the firm launched the construction of 28 ships and delivered 17 new vessels and 34 repaired others to customers.