VARD has acquired STX Canada Marine Inc., a leading marine engineering and design company with more than 30 years history in North America, for approx. NOK 65 million (US$10.6 million).
Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, with branch offices in Ottawa and Houston and a workforce of over 75 employees, the new acquisition will be fully integrated with Vard Marine Inc., and operate under the Vard Marine name. The management directed by President Dave McMillan will continue, allowing the new organization to combine the best practices of Norwegian and North American marine engineering and design.
One of the vessels designed by STX Marine was recognized for its innovative design earlier this year. Just one month after delivery to Gran Energia in January, the CSS Olympia was named as Offshore Support Vessel of the Year at the Offshore Support Journal Conference in London. This compact semisubmersible is only the starting point of where the market for this vessel type is headed, STX said at the time (photo at right of CSS Olympia).
Following the acquisition, Vard Marine will provide a broad range of naval architecture and marine engineering services world-wide, including all aspects of ship design and production technology, total equipment and service packages, support for offshore, commercial and naval shipbuilding activities, economic and technical feasibility studies, research and analytical investigations, and model tests and full scale trials.
Vard Marine specializes in the development of advanced technology and its application to offshore and specialized vessel designs. Its portfolio ranges from offshore support vessels, offshore subsea construction vessels, semi-submersibles, and icebreakers to research, naval and patrol vessels, and will complement VARD’s existing product portfolio of vessel designs and equipment.
The company currently has an order book of 38 ship designs for vessels under construction, for ship owners and yard customers worldwide. Twenty of these orders are for offshore support vessels, constituting more than 20% of the overall OSV order book in the US.
CEO and Executive Director Roy Reite commented, “Through this acquisition, VARD is really able to accelerate its growth strategy in North America, and we can rapidly strengthen our presence, capabilities and client relations in this important market. We are excited about the opportunities this generates for VARD and welcome the new clients, business partners and employees to VARD.“
Singapore-listed shipbuilder Vard Holdings Ltd. is a subsidiary of Italy's state-owned Fincantieri.
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