Norway's Vard to build hull of luxury expedition cruise vessel in Romania

Delivery of the new vessel is scheduled from Vard Langsten in Norway in the second quarter of 2021, Vard said in a statement on Tuesday.

Vard Tulcea employs 3,000 and is located on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream of Tulcea. Since the beginning of the year, Vard has announced that it will build the hulls of three coast guard vessels for Norway's defence procurement agency NDMA and the hull of a cable laying vessel for Italy's Prysmian Group at its Tulcea shipyard.

The new luxury expedition cruise vessel will be approximately 16,000 gross tons, about 139 meters long and 22 meters wide. The vessel has seven passenger decks, with accommodation for 230 passengers in 120 cabins and suites.

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is a cruise provider in the luxury and expedition segments and is owned by Germany's tourism intergrated business group TUI.

Vard is one of the major global designers and builders of specialised vessels. Headquartered in Norway and with approximately 9,000 employees, it operates nine strategically located shipbuilding facilities, including five in Norway, two in Romania, one in Brazil and one in Vietnam.