Scotland's North Star Group is ordering a fourth service operation vessel (SOV) for the Dogger Bank wind farm off the UK.

The hybrid-power ship will be backed by a £90m ($119m) charter to Equinor, supporting technicians at sea.

The vessel will service Dogger Bank C, creating 40 additional crewing and onshore UK jobs.

The deal makes North Star the exclusive SOV operator for the world's largest wind farm for at least the next decade.

In March, the firm won the initial contract for Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B following a competitive tender for the design and delivery of three SOVs in a deal worth an estimated £270m.

The first three ships are being built at Vard in Vietnam with delivery set from 2023.

All four vessels have been fixed for 10 years, with three years of additional options, for a total contract value of £360m.

Future-proofed

North Star chief executive Matthew Gordon said: "Securing the final SOV contract required for the Dogger Bank Wind Farm development for the next decade is an honour and testament to the hard work and dedication of the team at North Star and our talented technology partners."

"These hybrid-powered vessels are future-proofed for tomorrow's zero-carbon emission marine fuels and the superior home-from-home living space will provide the offshore wind technicians exceptional respite from the often-harsh North Sea environment," he added.

The company is already working on securing further offshore renewables jobs in the UK and beyond.

Due to its size and scale, Dogger Bank is being built in three consecutive 1.2 GW phases: A, B and C.

The wind farm is expected to generate enough renewable electricity to supply 5% of the UK's demand, equivalent to powering 6m homes.

SSE Renewables and Eni are also partners in the project.

Rune Ronvik, project manager for Dogger Bank, said: "With the final SOV also being delivered by North Star we will have the same shipowner across all three phases which means we will continue the constructive cooperation we have started and develop the operational synergies further. "

The new SOV is the third Vard 4 12 design in the series. The ship is 78 metres long and has a 1,600-dwt capacity.

The other ship is a Vard 4 19, which is 85-metres long and 2,000 dwt.

The latest SOV will be handed over in 2025.