European firm to design SOV for US wind farm use

HAV Design will develop a 288.7'x57.7' newbuild service operation vessel (SOV) for Crest, a Crowley and ESVAGT U.S. joint venture. The SOV will work on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.

For HAV Design, the contract marks the first European ship designer to develop an SOV for the U.S. market. HAV Design did not disclose the value of the contract.

The newbuild hybrid vessel will be an HAV 832 SOV design. It will be built at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay, Wis. HAV Design’s contract is with Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding.

The American Bureau of Shipping-class vessel can carry 20 crew and 60 special personnel and will be U.S. flag. The ship will go into service in 2026.

The goal of U.S.-based Crowley's and Danish shipowner ESVAGT's joint venture is to bolster purpose-built, Jones Act vessel availability in support of the emerging offshore wind energy market in the U.S. 

Crest will be the owner of the vessel, Crowley will operate the SOV with U.S mariners, while ESVAGT will provide technical advice on the design, construction, and operation of the vessels based on its experience with high performance with this specific vessel type.

Following completion, the newbuild SOV will be chartered to Dominion Energy for its 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project which will include 176 wind turbine generators provided by Siemens Gamesea. Once online, the project is estimated to provide enough clean energy to power up to 660,000 homes at rated wind speed, avoiding more than five million tons per year of carbon emissions compared to fossil fuel-based power generation.

According to the ABS and others, this U.S. offshore wind build-out will require more than 100 U.S. vessels.

“We have designed and developed numerous SOVs for use in demanding offshore climates, but this is the first time we are designing a vessel for the U.S. market,” Gisle Vinjevoll Thrane, vice president of sales at Norway-based HAV Design, said in a statement. “We are confident in the operational benefits our vessel design brings to the table, so we believe that this contract can open the door for further work in the USA.”

ESVAGT has a fleet of more than 40 vessels and approximately 1,200 employees. 

HAV Design, a subsidiary of HAV Group ASA, is headquartered in Fosnavåg, Norway.