Leading players in the renewables industry have partnered to develop a cutting edge ship for use on floating wind farms.
Offshore wind projects are moving into deeper waters, with floating turbines located a long way from shore.
The industry can safely transport people and goods from ships to floating platforms, but there is "room for improvement" in cases where both the vessel and the platform are in motion.
North Star has signed memorandum of understanding with MO4, Principle Power, SMST, VARD, and Voith Group, to establish a dedicated working group of industry experts to help fast-track the design and testing of a new concept for a service operations vessel (SOV).
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The collaboration will look to deliver a design that sets a new industry benchmark for safety, performance, and efficiency.
North Star will lead the design process, while MO4 will be responsible for assessing the workability of the proposed concept, focusing on vessel motions, gangway performance, and the movement range of the floating wind turbine foundations.
Principle Power will contribute its 15 years of experience designing, deploying, and operating floating wind platforms to provide critical data on the range of motions expected from platforms and to define operational use cases for inspection, maintenance, and repair.
International offshore equipment design and build specialist SMST, will bring its expertise in gangway technology, providing essential data on different walk-to-work options, workability parameters, and solutions for landing height adjustments to ensure safe and efficient personnel transfers.
VARD, a major global designer and specialised vessel shipbuilder, will combine inputs from all partners to develop a cohesive floating offshore wind ship design, ensuring that every aspect is optimised for performance and workability.
Global technology company Voith Group, will contribute propulsion options, selecting the most suitable DP systems to maintain stability and performance in the challenging environment of floating offshore wind.
North Star’s renewables & innovations director Andrew Duncan said: “Floating offshore wind presents both challenges and opportunities, and through this collaboration, we can innovate, and design a solution specifically tailored for GW-scale projects.
"Our goal is to create an innovative, best-in-class ship design that supports the rapid expansion of floating wind technology. By pushing the boundaries of what's possible, we can ensure that our future SOVs deliver the highest levels of safety, efficiency, and operational flexibility, ultimately paving the way for a more sustainable energy future.
"We look forward to leveraging our collective expertise to drive this floating wind innovation forward. The detailed ship design will be put to the test through rigorous workability assessments, ensuring that it meets the highest standards of performance, safety, and efficiency before being implemented in future floating wind projects.”
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