Marrying the agility of a CTV with the stability of an SOV

Floating 4WD

Definitely not mid-sized is the Ulstein-designed Olympic Boreas, the 90-m-long, 19-m-wide construction SOV whose Crist-built hull was launched from its dock at Ulstein in Norway in early April. With accommodation for 126 in 91 cabins, the hybrid-driven, twin X-Stern design vessel is the first of two commissioned by Norway-based offshore specialist Olympic.

“The general outfitting work is well underway,” explains Ulstein’s project manager, Helge Torvik. “It consists of accommodation work, electric installations, piping and mechanical installations, to name a few. Also, the commissioning stage has started for what Ulstein describes as a “four-wheel drive solution for the seas”.

Ulstein has also been busy in China. That nation’s first home-built SOV, intended for offshore windfarm support, was undergoing final tests in April while another vessel will hit the water later in 2024. Commissioned by Shanghai Electric, China’s biggest provider of offshore wind turbines, they have respectively capacity for 100 and 80 people.

And although it will not be delivered until 2026, the world’s first electric SOV is on its way after Liverpool-headquartered Bibby Marine signed in late April with Spanish shipbuilder Gondan, a specialist in bespoke vessels. Part-funded by the UK government and designed by Longitude in the UK, the e-SOV will be able to operate solely on battery power for over 16 hours between charging cycles, according to the owners.

While no details of the vessel’s capacity were revealed, according to Bibby Marine chief executive, Nigel Quinn, there is a strong commercial case for an e-SOV. “The project will demonstrate that clean ships can be built at the same total cost of ownership as a conventional fossil-burning vessel, coupled with significantly reduced operating costs,” he said.

Electric CTV

And a new e-CTV project is on its way. England’s Tidal Transit, a specialist in electrification, expects to start sea trials in early 2025 of an all-electric, retrofitted vessel that will work the windfarms off the North Coast. An £8M (US$10.2M) helm-to-prop redesign believed to be the first of its kind, the conversion is funded to the tune of £6.3M (US$8.0M) by the UK government.

As part of the conversion, Volvo Penta will replace the diesel engines on Tidal Transit’s 20-m-long, 12-passenger Ginny Louise, a Mercurio-built catamaran designed for the short-frequency waves of the North Sea, with a quad installation of Volvo Penta IPS 30, coupled with electric motors and more than 2 MWh of onboard battery capacity. Corvus Energy will supply the batteries.

“Smaller SOVs are becoming increasingly relevant”

“The 20-m Mercurio boats have deep and wide hulls that lead themselves to carrying large volumes of batteries,” Tidal Transit tells Riviera Maritime Media. “In addition, they are wide enough for installation of the quad IPS system.”

The project will also include the installation of an onshore charging station designed by Artemis Technologies and a wind turbine-based offshore charger from MJR Power and Automation. Renamed e-Ginny, the retrofitted  CTV will be the next step in Tidal Transit’s mission to create the world’s first fleet of multi-functional electric CTVs.

“These vessels will release no carbon dioxide, carry zero risk of fuel spillages, significantly lower noise pollution and have far fewer maintenance requirements,” Tidal Transit says.

Next up, Tidal Transit and partners including Artemis, Ørsted and Lloyd’s Register are testing another game-changer in the form of a 12m-long e-foiler. Designed to reach platforms further offshore at high speed in waves up to 1.5 m, it will also be all-electric. “The vessel will unlock future opportunities for e-foiling technology and help eliminate range anxiety,” the partners believe.

Simultaneously, technology in ship-to-rig transport is making advances. Palfinger Marine’s latest product is a fully 3D-compensated offshore passenger transfer system that can be fitted on CTVs or SOVs. More rugged and powerful than its predecessors, the system can handle 600 kg of people and hoist up to 1,000 kg of cargo.

“We understood the need for standardised, cost-competitive and weight-optimised solutions for the offshore wind industry,” Palfinger Marine explains. The result is a technology that comes in two variations: fixed or mobile. The fixed version is designed for permanent use on the vessel while the mobile model is mounted on a support frame that can be connected to the deck.