UK OSV owner and operator North Star Group has secured a long-term charter contract to deliver an additional service operation vessel (SOV) to support the third phase of the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm in the North Sea.
The £90m ($119m) contract will see the fourth SOV and associated daughter craft built for North Star as the exclusive service vessel operator for the world’s largest wind farm for at least the next decade.
In March this year, North Star won an initial contract for Dogger Bank A and Dogger Bank B for the design and delivery of three SOVs in a deal worth an estimated $357m.
Each of the four Dogger Bank SOVs has been contracted for a 10-year deal, with three additional one-year options. Around 40 new full-time jobs will be created locally, in addition to the 130 announced previously to support the first three SOVs.
Same as the previous three SOVs, the Fincantieri-controlled Norwegian shipbuilder Vard will design and build the new vessel, scheduled for delivery from the company’s shipyard Vard Vung Tau in Vietnam in Q4 2024.
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.
