Scotland's North Star Renewables has selected Vard to build its new service operation vessels (SOVs) after it won a £270m ($376m) Equinor tender.
The company will take delivery of three ships from the Norwegian group's Vung Tao yard in Vietnam.
The order consists of one ship of Vard 4 19 design and two of Vard 4 12.
The hybrid SOVs have been designed specifically by owner and shipbuilder to work on Equinor's 3.6-GW Dogger Bank A and B wind farms off the UK.
The vessels will be chartered to Equinor for 10 years, with three years of options.
Dogger Bank is currently under construction by joint venture partners SSE Renewables, Equinor and Eni and when completed will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
Two years of work with Vard
North Star Renewables chief executive Matthew Gordon said: "We’ve worked closely with the team at Vard for over two years on the development of our SOVs for Dogger Bank.
"I'm delighted to be able to say that the work which went into designing the vessels to meet the optimal standards of workability, comfort, safety and sustainability has resulted in us securing the award of three vessels on long term charters."
Gordon called this a huge step for North Star on its journey to becoming a leading player within the SOV market.
Vard Design's Thomas Brathaug said the Vard 4 19 vessel had been developed to handle planned maintenance on the Dogger Bank A and B wind arrays, more than 130 km offshore.
Colleague Stian Ona added: "The vessel’s environmental footprint and operability, hybrid battery solution and prepared for carbon-neutral operations in the future really pushes the envelope for this kind of specialised vessel."
The 85-metre ship has a beam of 19 metres and will be able to accommodate 78 crew members in single cabins.
State of the art
All the vessels have a height-adjustable, motion-compensated gangway with elevator system, a height-adjustable boat transfer system and a 3D-compensated crane for cargo transfer.
The Vard 4 12 pair will be 78 metres long and accommodate 60 people. They will be used for corrective maintenance.
The vessels will be diesel-electric.
TradeWinds first broke the news in June last year that Equinor was seeking three or four SOVs, with up to 18 bidders expected.
Interested parties included wind power companies and offshore shipping names, as well as a big conventional merchant shipping outfit that had been sniffing around, looking to "make a big splash, at least before the pandemic hit", according to one market observer.
