UK infrastructure vessel support operator, North Star, has launched a recruitment drive for crew ahead of its first hybrid-powered offshore wind fleet arriving in UK waters early next year.

The company, which has facilities in Aberdeen, Lowestoft, and Newcastle, is aiming to hire 42 qualified seafarers in the next couple of months, the beginning of a commitment to recruit over 170 seafarers across the next 18 months to support the first of the company’s four new service operations vessels (SOVs), all destined for the Dogger Bank Wind Farm development off the East Yorkshire coast, a joint venture between SSE Renewables, Equinor, and Vårgrønn.