Vard’s US dual fuel patent

The company said that the patent relates to the first of its newly designed six 5100dwt vessels to be built by the Gulf Coast Shipyard Group for Harvey Gulf International Marine.

It said that each vessel represents the first US flag vessels capable of operating exclusively on natural gas or diesel fuel oil.

The patent relates to a small sized, self-propelled floating vessel which has a dual fuel system, having a monohull or catamaran shape with an overall length ranging from 60 up to 170m, azimuthing thrusters and with LNG tank capacities between 100 and 1200m³.

Vard Marine specialises in the development of advanced technology and offshore and specialised vessel designs, including support vessels, icebreakers and patrol vessels.

The company currently has a bulging order book for different ship designs under construction for customers worldwide. This includes 20 offshore support vessels, which, according to Vard, constitutes more than 20% of the overall US OSV order book.

Recent customers include the design and construction of a 4,000dwt PSV for German company E.R. Offshore, the offshore arm of the Rickmers group, with delivery scheduled for mid-2016.

Another is the contract for the design and construction of a large Offshore Subsea Construction Vessel (OSCV) for Norway’s Solstad Offshore – the largest single vessel order ever received by VARD.

Vard is a subsidiary of Fincantieri.