UK-based offshore vessel operator North Star has awarded a GBP 2 million contract to Alicat Workboats for the construction of two new Chartwell-designed daughter craft that will be used on the Dogger Bank wind farm offshore the UK from next year.
The vessels will be added to North Star’s new renewables fleet which is bound for the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm.
Last September, Alicat Workboats won a contract to build two vessels for the offshore wind service vessel operator.
Designed by Chartwell Marine in collaboration with North Star, the vessels will utilise a combination of diesel and electric outboards.
The four vessels being built by Alicat to the Chartwell Daughter Craft design specifications will support operations with the transfer of maintenance technicians and equipment between North Star’s service operation vessels (SOVs) and wind turbines at Dogger Bank Wind Farm during phases A, B, and C.
The SOVs are currently being built at VARD’s Vung Tau shipyard in Vietnam and will feature MO4’s AI decision support software.
Work on the first vessel commenced in October and the first SOVs are scheduled to arrive at Port of Tyne in summer 2023, with the Dogger Bank C ship due in 2025.
Due to its size and scale, Dogger Bank is being built in three consecutive 1.2 GW phases: Dogger Bank A, Dogger Bank B, and Dogger Bank C. In total the wind farm is expected to generate enough renewable electricity to supply five per cent of the UK’s demand, equivalent to powering six million homes, once fully operational in 2026.
The offshore wind farm is a joint venture between SSE Renewables (40 per cent), Equinor (40 per cent), and Eni (20 per cent).