Scotland’s North Star has become the first offshore wind vessel operator to back a new “Midi-SOV” design.

Shipbuilder Vard and designer Chartwell Marine have come up with a ship that they describe as bridging the gap between a crew transfer vessel (CTV) and the bigger service operation vessels (SOVs) for maintaining infrastructure.

The Midi-SOV is a revolutionary 55-metre unit now ready to be built for the European, Asian and US markets, the partners said.