North Star, the UK’s leading infrastructure vessel support operator, has launched a major recruitment drive ahead its first hybrid-powered offshore wind fleet arriving in UK waters early next year.
The company, which has facilities in Aberdeen, Lowestoft and Newcastle, wants to hire 42 qualified seafarers as part of plans to take on 170 seafarers in the next 18 months.
The staff will work on the first of the company’s four new service operations vessels (SOVs), all destined for the world-leading Dogger Bank Wind Farm development off the East Yorkshire coast, a joint venture between SSE Renewables, Equinor, and Vårgrønn.
SOVs are used in-field as living quarters for offshore wind turbine operation and maintenance technicians, allowing them to be safely transferred to and from work whilst providing a centralised hub for logistics.
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North Star is looking to fill roles including ship’s master, chief officer, second officer, gangway and crane operators, as well as electrical engineers.
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Steve Myers, North Star’s SOV operations director, said: “Over the past 135 years, the business has expanded from fishing into oil and gas, and now into offshore wind. Our four state-of-the-art SOVs are on 10-year minimum charters to the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which presents a host of exciting seafaring career opportunities with long-term prospects.
“As our unique vessel design utilises the most cutting-edge solutions including AI and machine learning technologies, walk-to-work gangways, and dynamic positioning, we have developed a programme of transition training to help upskill our current crew with their offshore wind career ambitions. The additional new hires will work across both the SOVs as well as backfill openings within our existing fleet, ensuring we maintain our inclusive company culture and leverage a collective expertise to deliver safe and efficient operations in-field.”
This initial workforce boost is part of North Star’s plan to hire 170 personnel in the next 18 months to safely operate on its first four SOVs as well as the fleet’s associated daughter craft, which are the renewables sector’s first to use hybrid propulsion. It currently employs 1,300 staff.
Its in-house crewing department currently ensures its 41 emergency response and rescue vessels continue to provide 365-days-a-year support to 50 offshore oil and gas installations in the North Sea.
North Star has also recently employed Joanna Lang as its first in-house legal counsel. Based in Aberdeen, Joanna has 20 years’ experience in global legal, contract and commercial roles, including a decade of experience supporting energy companies including Subsea 7, ROVOP and ROVCO.
This recent recruitment drive is underpinned by North Star’s ongoing cadet programme. As the country’s largest employer of offshore cadets, it invests £1 million annually in their development.
Chief Executive Matthew Gordon said the recruitment drive supports its offshore wind growth plan to achieve a fleet of 40 new SOVs by 2040.
He said: “We are not just hiring people to carry out a job, we aim to create a strong pipeline of skilled talent as we encourage and support our people to develop their careers.”
