North Star secures millions to expand SOV fleet

The £140 million (€161 million) financing package includes commitments from RBC Capital Markets, BRIDGE (Edmond de Rothschild), IFM Investors and the Scottish National Investment Bank, which has pledged £50 million (€58 million).

The package has come soon after the firm entered the offshore wind market last year, when it won four long-term charter SOV (service operation vessel) contracts for Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which at the moment is set to be the world’s largest on completion in 2026. The SOVs, financed by a £127 million facility from Allianz Global, are due to be delivered from next year.

It also follows investment by the bank into the Port of Aberdeen, which it calls a ‘hub for North Sea offshore services and, increasingly, new offshore wind farms’.

”Raising this level of corporate funding from the bank and other investors, as well as the ongoing backing of Partners Group, provides us with the means to continue to add to our growing vessel fleet and supports our ambition to be a leading player in the European SOV market,” said chief strategy officer Fraser Dobbie with North Star, which is owned by private equity firm Partners Group.

“The £140 million secured today secures the capital required for us to continue our new-building programme in the year ahead, whilst providing us with the flexibility to continue to expand these facilities to meet our strategy of 40 new SOVs by 2040.”

Crown Estate Scotland, which leases the seabed around the country to offshore projects, said in its latest annual report in November that a record level of revenue had been generated for public spending ‘with the potential for billions of pounds to be invested in Scottish offshore wind’.

The number of seabed agreements has reached 20, it says, with a target of generating 27.6GW of electricity.