Haugesund, Norway, headquartered Edda Wind ASA has agreed for contracts four newbuild commissioning service vessels) with Fincantieri’s Norwegian-based subsidiary Vard. The price is EUR 63 million (about $67 million) per ship, exclusive of owner-furnished equipment and building supervision costs and will be paid on a basis of five 20% installments.
Deliveries of the first two ships is expected in first quarter 2025, the third in second quarter 2025 and the fourth in first quarter 2026.
Edda Wind has also secured options for 2+2 additional CSOV vessels, with expected delivery dates in 2025 and 2026 (if declared).
According to an Edda Wind presentation, the hulls of two of the ships will be built at Vard’s Romanian shipyard and outfitted in Norway. Two of the ships will be both built and outfitted in Vietnam.
Edda Wind says that “newbuilds are not looking to get cheaper,” saying in the presentation that:
- Few high-quality yards specialized on C/SOV vessels with the proper configuration
- Global yard capacity down ~60% from its peak around 2010 combined with very strong orderbooks
- Limited yards with strong relationships to providers of scarce critical equipment and gangways
- Higher requirement for skilled engineering labor as C/SOV design complexity increases
- Activity in O&G and other maritime segments consuming yard capacity and focus
Noting that it has had good access to debt financing and expects to secure debt financing for the four newbuilds ahead of delivery, Edda Wind says that it is regularly tendering and negotiating with clients for new contracts.
“Currently, Edda Wind is in an advanced stage of negotiations with an industry major in relation to contracts for about 750 firm trading days in 2023 and 2024 at rates above historical levels and in the range as forecasted by analysts,” it says.
The company is planning to raise NOK 1,200,000,000 (about $115 million) through a private placement of new ordinary shares.
