Page 62: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2023)

MARKET IN FOCUS: OFFSHORE WIND

CTV Technical Trends lutions for active vessels, but the Volvo Penta quad IPS system Still a Bright Future has gained much favor, featuring in over 50% of new builds. Offshore wind projects, whether in the U.S. or globally, are

The SOV segment is de? ned by those vessels more focused navigating some signi? cant obstacles, whether supply chain towards longer term O&M work and those vessels suited to bottlenecks, ? nancial support or in? ationary pressures. How- turbine commissioning projects, the latter which generally re- ever, the fundamentals remain strong for growth of offshore quires more technicians to be housed. As the charts show, the wind projects in Europe, East Asia and the U.S. Further, we long-term contracted SOV supply has grown at a fairly steady anticipate new market entrants, including South America and rate, whereas the SOV segment is currently going through a Australia. signi? cant growth spurt. The one concern for this segment A common theme of all of these projects is that they will remains that SOVs are a comparatively commoditized item, require logistical support during construction and operations. which is relatively easy to package and explain to investors, CTVs and SOVs remain key assets for these activities, and fueling the risk for speculative and over-building. more will be required.

The trend for the SOV segment is for battery-based diesel But to avoid the challenges that have been faced by many electric propulsion systems, where the engines feature some early movers, lower risk long-term charter contracts with no form of fuel ? exibility to accommodate hydrogen energy car- early termination provisions should always be considered as riers, such as methanol and liquid organic hydrogen carriers a potential option.

(LOHC).

SOV Technical Trends

Chart Intelatus Global Partners Chart Intelatus Global Partners 62 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • November 2023

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