VESSEL REVIEW | Grampian Tyne – UK’s North Star adds hybrid newbuild to SOV fleet

UK offshore services provider the North Star Group will soon commence operational sailings of the newest addition to its fleet of offshore maintenance vessels.

Grampian Tyne is the first in a series of four hybrid electric service operation vessels (SOVs) built for North Star by Norwegian shipyard Vard at its Vung Tau facilities in Vietnam. The newbuild will be deployed at the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm in UK waters, where it will perform operations and maintenance duties.

North Star said the SOV's design includes technician accommodation areas and facilities for parts storage and cargo handling. Space is also available for an Alicat Workboats hybrid electric daughtercraft with seating for up to eight people and deck space for cargo totalling one tonne.

The DNV-classed newbuild has an LOA of 79.9 metres, a moulded beam of 19 metres, a loaded draught of 5.6 metres, a depth of 7.4 metres, and accommodations for 21 crewmembers and 39 technicians and other personnel. The propulsion arrangement includes four Yanmar 6EY22ALWS 1,300kW engines driving two Voith eVSP 26/230 propellers, two Kongsberg Maritime PMTT2000 bow tunnel thrusters, a Kongsberg Maritime TCNS075-M-170 drop-down azimuthing thruster, a Stamford S4L1M-C2 212kW emergency generator, and a Corvus Orca Energy 745kWh energy storage system.

The SOV is also fitted with four dynamic positioning control stations for more accurate positioning. The joystick controls were provided by Schottel while the DP2 system is from Maritime Technologies. The deck equipment meanwhile includes an Uptime tower with motion-compensated gangway, a Redrock 3D motion-compensated crane with a two-tonne lifting capacity, and two Redrock ancillary deck cranes with one- and two-tonne lifting capacities, respectively.

The occupants are housed in 60 single cabins with en suite toilets. Other facilities include four day rooms, four offices, two conference rooms including one with an auditorium, a gym, a mess, three wardrobe areas, and an internal warehouse with an area of 510 square metres, boat landing access, and side loading cargo capability. Another 330 square metres of space is available on the vessel's open deck for transporting other cargo.

The electronics suite includes communications and navigation equipment from Furuno, Anschutz, Gillie, Inmarsat, Jotron, ICOM, and Hatteland.

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