Van Oord swoops for MPI

Van Oord and has agreed a deal with Vroon Group to buy the lion’s share of MPI offshore.

The agreement will see the Dutch contractor acquire MPI’s Teesside base in Stokesly, Middlesbrough, along with jack-ups Adventure, Resolution (pictured) and their crews.

Vessel MPI Enterprise was not included in the transaction. The fee paid by Van Oord was not disclosed.

Adventure and Resolution will join the recently upgraded Aeolus in Van Oord’s fleet, taking their tally of installation vessels to three.

“By acquiring the Adventure and Resolution and the addition of qualified personnel, our position in the offshore wind industry will be further strengthened,” said Van Oord chief executive Pieter Van Oord.

Van Oord’s project pipeline includes installation work at Blauwwind’s 731.5MW Borssele 3&4 zones off the Netherlands and Eneco and Elico’s 369MW Norther project off the Belgian coast.

The deal is subject to due diligence checks and the approval of competition authorities, but is expected close by the end of September this year.

Earlier today, Jan De Nul completed the acquisition of MPI jack-up Discovery for an undisclosed fee.

The deal, which reNEWS revealed yesterday was nearing conclusion, also involves the vessel’s crew and a small number of MPI staff transferred to Jan De Nul.

Details of JDN’s interest in acquiring assets from Vroon-owned MPI was first reported in subscriber-only reNEWS in January.

Photo: MPI