North Star

STEERING THE ENERGY TRANSITION

With five decades of experience supporting the offshore industry, North Star is in prime position to accelerate the shipping sector’s transition to green energy. Chief Technology Officer James Bradford explained how the company is doing exactly that, in an exclusive interview. Report by Imogen Ward.

Having worked continuously in the offshore sector since the 1970s, the UK’s leading infrastructure support vessel operator North Star is no stranger to the marine industry’s journey towards net zero. Now, eager to extend its fleet beyond oil and gas – to offshore wind, the company which employs more than 1,300 crew and onshore personnel from its bases in Aberdeen, Lowestoft, Newcastle and Hamburg – has set itself an ambitious goal.

“Our strategy is to add 40 hybrid -elec tric SOVs to our fleet by 2040,” said Chief Technology Officer James Bradford.

“And so far, we’ve made a great start with our first two service operation vessels delivered ahead of schedule. We’ve received a lot of positive feedback for the Grampian Tyne and the Grampian Derwent’s unique and innovative design, as well as our project management skills, which is a great position to be in as we aim to build our business across Europe.”

Prior to working in the oil and gas sector, the firm was established 135 years ago to aid the fisheries sector. Seizing on the

North Sea’s oil boom, it quickly became a highly regarded and respected emergency response and rescue vessel (ERRV) operator. The firm has the largest ERRV fleet in Europe and provides essential crew rescue, firefighting, and other emergency response services to offshore energy operations around the clock, 24/7, 365 days a year.

“ERRVS are a mandatory requirement for all offshore oil and gas installations,” Mr Bradford said. “With the changing

demands of the energy industry driven by climatic considerations, the opportunity to transition our years of experience garnered in ERRV operations (and proven track record for reliable on-time simultaneous newbuild programmes) made our investment in a new ship design for the renewable sector an obvious choice.

“Not only is there an increasing need for energy security across Europe, but with that comes a realisation that as we move to protect the planet, the need for oil and gas will start to decrease. That’s why we made a conscious decision to start diversifying the business into offshore wind.

“But that’s not going to take a matter of weeks; it’s a transition that could take 20 years to complete.”

Emerging ESG

In line with its commitment to the renewables market, North Star has also recently implemented its own ESG strategy.

“The research really began in 2019,” Mr Bradford said. “It’s mainly being driven by metrics that have already been successfully applied to deep sea shipping; we are great believers in learning from other shipping categories that have previously been exposed to energy efficiency and decarbonisation regulatory diktat.

“As part of our decarbonisation plans, we’ve introduced a carbon intensity index across our fleet, so that we can more accurately measure our emissions. We have also included a commercial metric which is linked to the business’ transition from using fossil fuels to green energy. That metric will indicate how quickly we are making that

move. We also have a technology roadmap which identifies the partners who we’ll call on to accommodate the ever-increasing regulations of a transitioning industry.”

Choosing the perfect partner

The journey towards a greener fleet needs a well-structured plan and a solid financial backing to execute it. North Star was acquired in 2022 by Partners Group (a leading global private markets firm), which, along with other investors, has enabled North Star to build its world-class offshore wind tonnage. The company selected VARD as its shipbuilder and has delivered the first two of four SOVs ahead of schedule for the Dogger Bank Wind Farm for decade-long minimum charters. It also has the first two of up to four Construction SOVs underway with the organisation.

“We went through a comprehensive evaluation process that included several ship building yards,” said Mr Bradford. “We put together our specifications which were based upon the project pillars of

Chief Technology Officer James Bradford

quality, cost and build time. VARD scored highly within all three areas.

“We’re really making the most of the amazing technology available at VARD’s Vietnam and European yards, including a huge amount of automation, from steel cutting to welding and fabrication. Their technology and our desire to deliver a clean, energy efficient service to the renewables sector really go hand-in-hand.”

40 by 2040

With the first two SOVs delivered, and four more underway, the ball is well and truly rolling for North Star’s ambitions.

“The Grampian Tyne was delivered directly to Equinor for operations and maintenance

work,” Mr Bradford explained. “She’s been in service for a couple of months now and is doing extremely well. From the feedback we’ve received, the ship’s performance has been quite exceptional. Equinor has been an amazing support as we brought the vessel up to full capacity, and we couldn’t be more delighted with the results.”

The company is not one to rest on its laurels; the team always has an ear to the ground for new innovation developments. For example, the North Star SOVs deploy the Electric Voith Schneider Propeller (eVSP) from Voith. The two eVSPs per vessel are eVSP 26/230 with 1850 kW each, plus an electronic control system. The eVSP has Voith roll stabilisation, a unique feature which allows active roll reduction of the vessel, providing a more stable and safe working platform.

“There is a saturation of technology within the market that could satisfy people’s needs for the next 10 years, but there’s nothing that is legacy at this time,” Mr Bradford said. “So we’ve configured our designs with high efficiency engines, open technology and energy storage systems – batteries – to afford North Star the time required to evaluate how the technology evolves and finally stabilises as the industry transitions. We have chosen methanol as our chosen future fuel for this transitionary period, which reduces our carbon emissions by 92 per cent. We are also installing energy storage back-up systems.”

In the meantime, the company is currently looking at two future fuel options for its ERRVs and is in talks regarding methanol, and HVO diesel supply and fuel blending technology.

“HVO would reduce our emissions by 85 per cent if we applied it to all of our ERRVs,” Mr Bradford said. “The main barrier for that, though, is the price. Currently HVO is three times more expensive than marine gas oil. In order to move forward, the industry really needs to come together to make it more affordable. The regulatory bodies can’t expect businesses to be financially compromised to go green.”

North Star is also looking into drone technology to further aid its support to the offshore wind sector. With so much on the cards, the future for the firm looks bright.

“I’m a great believer that if you’re happy with what you do, then you will always excel,” Mr Bradford concluded. “I’ve applied that to my entire life, and it is applicable to North Star as well. There’s an energy within the organisation that is hard to find. The atmosphere is buzzing, and the challenge is always forthcoming, which is great.

“What North Star is achieving – along with its technology partners – is something you don’t come across very often. I really believe this company is one in a million, and being a part of this journey is absolutely fantastic.”