Dong Fang Offshore (DFO), one of Asia’s leading offshore wind service providers, has announced the official signing of a significant shipbuilding contract with Norwegian shipyard Westcon for a new Subsea and Cable Lay Vessel (CLV). The agreement represents a major milestone in DFO’s fleet expansion and further enhances the company’s competitive position in the Asia-Pacific subsea cable sector.
Under the agreement, Westcon Yard will take over and complete the construction of a large CLV currently underway, with the contracted delivery date in the first quarter of 2027.
The new vessel order supports DFO’s recent business growth and expansion plans, and replaces cable installation capacity lost in Taiwan following the recent exercise of the 2028 option for the Orient Adventurer by DeepOcean in Europe, taking the vessel firm to the end of 2028 in Europe, with further options until 2031.
The CEO of DFO stated: “The decision for this new CLV is driven by the successful extension of the Orient Adventurer’s contract, and as such a new vessel is required to replace her for subsea cable projects DFO have already secured in 2028 in APAC. Considering the vessel’s delivery schedule, secured contract backlog, competitive building price, and future business development, we are looking forward to welcome our second CLV to the fleet. This addition will add much needed capacity to support our customers offshore energy ambitions, and secures DFO’s long term future as a leading APAC based contractor.”
With the addition of the new CLV, DFO’s operational capability will be significantly improved. The number of large construction vessels over 100 meters will increase from 2 to 7 by 2027, establishing DFO as an internationally recognised marine contractor with a competitive scale. DFO’s operated fleet will include: two highly-specialised large CLVs, two Construction Support Vessels with cable repair capability, three Service Operations Vessels, one DP1 Survey Vessel, two Anchor Handling Tugs, seven Crew Transport Vessels, one Cargo Barge, and one newly acquired DP2 Multicat.
