The Norwegian group Vard has won a contract for the construction of a machine and passenger ferry for the Norwegian operator Boreal. This will be the first 100% electric ferry built in Romania on the Vard site in Braila.
The new car and passenger ferry will be completely electric and is specially designed for operations in the Norwegian Fjords. The ferry, designed by Multi Maritime, will have a length of 74 meters and a total capacity of up to 60 cars and 199 passengers and crew, according to economica.net.
“We look forward to building the electric ferry, where we can use our proven expertise in battery technology for efficient and environmentally friendly ships,” says Roy Reite, Vard CEO.
The body of the ship will be built at the Vard site in Braila and ferry delivery is scheduled from the Vard Brevik yard in Norway in the third quarter of 2019. The ferry will begin operations in Norway from January 2020 and will run on the Kvanndal- Utne, on the west coast of Norway, where Boreal received a nine-year contract from the Norwegian Government.
Boreal is an important public transport provider in Norway. The company operates buses, coaches, trams, high-speed passenger ferries and car ferries. Its subsidiaries, Boreal Buss AS, Boreal Sjø AS and Boreal Bane AS, operate public transport services by means of public contracts with customers. Boreal has about 2,000 employees and is headquartered in Stavanger, Norway.
The Norwegians at Vard have nine production facilities, five in Norway, two in Romania, Braila and Tulcea, and one in Brazil and Vietnam. The company is one of the world’s leading specialized shipbuilders and has around 9,000 employees.
Vard Braila had nearly 1,400 employees at the end of 2016, a turnover of 171 million lei and a loss of 17 million lei.
The largest order in 15 years for the Braila site was announced in the Autumn of 2016: eight ships out of a total of 18 that Vard is about to deliver. The eight vessels are designed for the transport of pre-assembled modules and gas turbines for Kazakhstan oil fields and will be operated by Topaz Energy and Marine and its partners, Kazmortransflot, Blue Water Shipping and Tengizcherroil.