Sandock Austral Shipyards Signs Ship Design Agreement with Vard Marine

[By: Sandock Austral Shipyards]

Sandock Austral Shipyards (SAS) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Vard Marine Inc., a North American consulting naval architecture and marine engineering company, with an aim to build a further collaborative relationship with the Durban based company. The MOU allows for SAS to compete with the confidence gained from leveraging Vard Marine’s extensive portfolio of existing designs and tailored design approach.

Vard Marine offers professional ship design, engineering, and shipbuilding technology services to its clients and with the recent signing of a MOU with SAS, will create opportunities for SAS to promote Vard Marine designs to clients with the assurance that the proven Vard brand and reputation brings to the market.

Derek Buxton, the Vice President for Business Development at Vard Marine said, “We have a track record of success working with Sandock Austral Shipyards and we very much look forward to continuing this collaboration.  The two companies have shared values that include putting our clients first and delivering innovative, versatile and cost-effective solutions.  This agreement positions us to be more responsive and better prepared to address the unique combination of mission needs for any of our naval and commercial clients, in the region and around the world.”

Vard Marine are the chosen partner and present designer of the SAN HSV - the most complex Hydrographic Survey Vessel in the world, currently under construction at SAS.

Charles Maher, the Head of Marketing and Sales at SAS said that the agreement cements an already proven relationship with Vard Marine.

Maher said that Vard Marine collaborated with SAS to develop the initial concept of the vessel and ensured that the design complied with the Armscor Tender requirements, helping SAS to win the tender. After award, Vard marine developed the classification design package for SAS. 

Explaining what the recent understanding will mean for the two companies, Maher added: “Vard Marine has a significant range of skillsets and capabilities that allows development of innovative and efficient design solutions through both the tailoring of proven and clean sheet designs. Initially, we will be concentrating on their range of Naval and Defence vessels that we will help bring to new customers”.

“Sandock Austral Shipyards operates on a global scale with suppliers, service providers and clients. Building upon this relationship with such a prestigious Naval Architect design house, allows us to provide clients with state-of-the-art designs, with quick turnaround times based on many already proven and in service designs, reducing risk from our company, and allowing SAS to provide customers with a much higher confidence rate,” Maher said.