The first of North Star’s new offshore wind fleet, the Grampian Tyne, has been officially named at a VIP ceremony at Equinor’s Port of Tyne base in the North East of England (UK), ahead of its early handover to the Dogger Bank Wind Farm.The service operation vessel (SOV) is of Vard 4 12-design and is one of four destined for decade-long minimum charters to support operations and maintenance (O&M) work at the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm and its partners Equinor (40%), SSE Renewables (40%), and Vårgrønn (20%). The SOV is equipped with a bespoke new concept and designed daughter craft for offshore support of technician and cargo deployment, engineered to perform in up to 1.7m Hs sea-state. All three remaining hybrid-electric powered SOV newbuilds, being built by Vard, are on track for being operational at Dogger Bank A, B and C by 2026. Each SOV is being built at VARD’s facilities in Vietnam.
