Scottish owner North Star is taking the potentially risky step of asking the public to name one of its new service operation vessels (SOVs).
The company is teaming up with ScottishPower Renewables and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy to run the competition for people in East Anglia.
The ship is due in late 2026 to work on the East Anglia Three windfarm, located off the Suffolk coast.
Three of five SOVs for the project have been delivered, all with the prefix Grampian.
The public must now complete the name for the fourth vessel.
But polls to name ships do not have a happy history.
Boaty McBoatface topped an online vote in the UK in 2016, when the government was searching for a name for its new £200m polar scientific research ship.
The suggestion was rejected and the vessel became the Sir David Attenborough instead.
Two years later, Australia had to rename a ship called Ferry McFerryface.
The name was supposedly chosen as a result of a national poll. But Australian media claimed it was not even in the top six.
Refused to work
The government admitted that Ferry McFerryface was not the most popular choice, with the most votes going to the name Boaty McBoatface.
Sydney Ferries workers had refused to serve on the ship due to its name.
North Star chief operating officer Robert Catchpole said: “This is an exciting opportunity for local schools and individuals to get involved in naming the latest addition to our fleet, which will play a crucial role in maintaining and servicing East Anglia Three for the next decade.”
The winner will be invited on board an existing North Star SOV.
They will also be presented with a special scale model of the new ship bearing its name.
“We look forward to seeing the creative suggestions that celebrate our local maritime heritage and community,” Catchpole adding, providing an enormous hostage to fortune.
Entries close on 30 November on the North Star website.
