Strong performance across our portfolio enabled a positive operating result. A significant setback on one offshore wind project in particular had an adverse impact on profitability. The geopolitical climate continued to shape our markets. In offshore wind, we observed stable conditions in the Operations & Maintenance (O&M) market, which is an important driver of our business. Market conditions for foundation installation remained challenging. Supply chain constraints and sharply increased costs continued to put pressure on project business cases, resulting in delays and cancellations. At the same time, the European policy environment for offshore wind is improving, supported by planned subsidy schemes and auction frameworks.

As we navigate these market conditions, we prioritise fair and balanced contract conditions over maximum fleet utilisation. Controlling costs nevertheless remains important for the sector's health. We therefore promote a collaborative approach with developers to help secure viable business cases.

Our projects for the oil and gas sector provide stability amid volatility in the renewable energy market. Investments in the sector remained at a reasonable level, with steady demand for coastal energy infrastructure and seabed intervention activities. Heightened focus on seabed security is driving up demand for our seabed intervention activities. This presents opportunities for Van Oord as our fleet is well-suited for the protection of critical undersea infrastructure. Overall, supply and demand remain balanced in higher-end seabed intervention works, while oversupply is emerging in the lower-technology segments.

Performance

Revenue in 2025 was up compared with 2024. Structural improvements to the risk-reward balance of our portfolio resulted in improved profit margins. Based on enhanced insights, changing market conditions and historical experience, we have reassessed our project maintenance provision. Project delays due to external factors had a negative impact on our operating result. This includes GPS signal jamming and spoofing and the breakdown of key supplier equipment, causing delays and triggering cost overruns. However, consistent operational excellence across the remainder of the portfolio secured a positive operating result for 2025.

Offshore wind installation vessel Boreas made its project debut in 2025, completing phase 1A of the Nordseecluster project involving the installation of 45 (out of 105) monopiles. The Boreas is the largest and most innovative offshore wind installation vessel to date. The performance of the Boreas on its first project demonstrates our ability to handle complex projects. The skill and commitment of our team enabled high-quality execution.

Ongoing and completed projects

In 2025, we began work on the Hollandse Kust West offshore wind farm for Ecowende, a joint venture between Shell and Eneco. Ecowende aims to build the most ecologically advanced wind farm in the world, incorporating Ocean Health solutions. The project plays an important role in the Dutch energy transition. Our scope includes foundation installation, scour protection, cable laying and turbine installation.

The near-shore and shore-approach works for the Barossa Gas Export Pipeline in Australia were completed in 2025. Van Oord and its joint venture partner were responsible for the shallow water installation scope, which included the preparation of the shore crossing at the landfall location near the Darwin LNG plant. We deployed both dredging equipment and a flexible fallpipe vessel and executed the works in a challenging marine environment.

Other completed works in 2025 included the Sofia Offshore Wind Farm in the United Kingdom, with dual cable-laying vessel Calypso making its debut, as well as the West White Rose project located approximately 350 kilometres off the east coast of Newfoundland, Canada. This technically complex project included works to prepare the seabed at 117 metres depth to enable accurate positioning of the Concrete Gravity Structure (CGS), as well as solid ballasting of the CGS, scour protection and flowline protection activities. We deployed flexible fallpipe vessels Stornes and Nordnes to this project. 

Awarded projects

Our order book was well filled at the end of 2025. Van Oord was awarded the seabed intervention works for a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in the Northern United Kingdom for the Northern Endurance Partnership. The Northern Endurance Partnership will transport and store CO₂ from the Net Zero Teesside (NZT) Power plant: the first gas-fired power plant in the United Kingdom with integrated carbon capture. The plant will capture and store CO₂ emissions to deliver reliable, decarbonised electricity to approximately 1 million homes.

We signed a contract for seabed intervention works at the Baltyk 2 and Baltyk 3 offshore wind farms in Poland. Our seabed intervention activities will protect the foundations of wind turbines, offshore transformer stations and cables connecting the wind farms to the Polish power grid against erosion and other threats.

Other developments

Through our social investment programme, we continue to involve and support the people of the Cabo Delgado province in northern Mozambique. In 2025, we collaborated with the local community during preparatory works for the Golfinho LNG pipelay project. Over the years, we have built strong relationships based on mutual trust and understanding. We are confident this foundation will support constructive collaboration as the project gets underway.

We also continue to be a proud sponsor of In The Same Boat, a volunteer-based organisation dedicated to combatting marine pollution. As a sponsor, we actively help clear the coasts of our European home markets of marine plastic litter.

Lastly, our oyster ‘spat-on-rock’ project is an innovative nature‑restoration initiative designed to restore native European flat oyster reefs in the North Sea. We use a scalable technique called remote setting, in which oyster larvae are grown and settled onto subsea rock before being deployed at sea to form new reefs. This approach is part of a broader multi‑year biodiversity programme led by our Ocean Health business line in partnership with research institutes, NGOs and industry partners.

Organisation

As part of our commitment to operational excellence, we updated our organisational structure in 2025. By organising ourselves around product lines rather than functional expertise, we can solve problems and collaborate more effectively.

Outlook

As a values-driven company with a long-term perspective, we remain committed to enhancing the energy transition and contributing to secure, accessible and affordable access to energy. While momentum on sustainability is wavering globally, we are staying the course. Our ongoing investments in a more sustainable fleet and the renewable energy capacity we install each year demonstrate this commitment. The world is going to need all the energy that is available: as much as possible from renewable sources like offshore wind, but also from fossil and nuclear energy during the transition. We will work with developers to close viable business cases in offshore wind, pursue coastal infrastructure projects for LNG and CCS, and protect critical infrastructure through our seabed intervention capabilities. Additionally, we will focus on preventative maintenance to enhance equipment reliability and resilience. With our balanced strategy, we are well-positioned to take advantage of the opportunities ahead.

West White Rose

522

individual mounds of rock installed with 7-centimetre precision to prepare the seabed

102,000

tonnes of MagnaDense installed for Concrete Gravity Structure (CGS) ballasting

350

kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada