From ambition to action, navigating the transition to net-zero offshore operations

The offshore wind sector is scaling fast, and so is its climate responsibility. Working at North Star, the UK’s largest integrated ship owner-operator, I’ve seen first-hand that bridging the gap between net-zero ambition and operational delivery is neither straightforward nor universally defined. It’s complex, fragmented and is much more than just a tick box exercise.

At North Star, we’ve been evolving our business for more than 138 years. Initially established to support the fisheries industry, we’ve since built five decades of proven expertise in the energy sector. Since 2021, this has been focused on offshore wind, investing almost half a billion pounds to move decisively from strategy to delivery, ensuring that we aren’t just setting goals, but making tangible efforts to decarbonise.

In 2024 alone, we deployed three SOVs into long-term wind contracts, saw a 15% year-on-year cut in Scope 1 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and invested £108.1 million in next-generation tonnage.

These milestones are part of a larger ambition to operate a fleet of 40 service operations vessels (SOVs) by 2040 and transition entirely to offshore wind by 2045.

Delivering real-world decarbonisation

We operate in one of the most emissions-intensive sectors in energy. That creates both a challenge and a responsibility. Decarbonising offshore logistics isn’t about abstract future fuels, it’s about what we can retrofit, integrate and scale right now. For us, that’s hybrid propulsion, alternative fuels, energy management systems and behaviour change backed by innovative digital tools and solutions. These technologies optimise vessel performance, reduce fuel consumption through real-time data insights and enable predictive maintenance to minimise unnecessary emissions.

In our recently published ESG report, which can be downloaded here: https://www.north-star.co.uk/sustainability, we shared how we’ve reduced our carbon intensity by 18% since 2022 and introduced a self-defined emissions intensity metric (CO₂/GRT) because none currently exists for our segment. The absence of a sector-specific carbon baseline for offshore wind logistics is a blind spot and a risk to comparability.

If we don’t measure consistently, we can’t decarbonise effectively which is why we’ve chosen to act anyway, and we encourage others to do the same.

Designing for fuels that don’t exist (yet)

One question we face isn’t whether to build low-carbon ships, it’s how to build vessels today that are ready for fuels that don’t exist at commercial scale.

At North Star, we are actively pursuing future-proofed, greener vessels, and currently we have built two methanol-ready commissioning SOVs (CSOVs) for the offshore wind market. These are designed for potential conversion to green methanol and have incorporated hybrid-propulsion solutions.

One challenge is that the global production of alternative fuels remains limited, with most projects still in early commercial stages and supply concentrated in a few geographic regions. Maritime operators also face competition from other sectors, such as aviation and heavy industries, further straining fuel availability and long-term supply security.

On the economic front, the cost of alternative fuels remains significantly higher than traditional marine fuels.

This is why we’re also engaged in strategic partnerships with alternative fuel producers and projects such as NAVHYS - a cutting-edge collaboration aimed at developing green fuelling technologies that can support a shift away from traditional fossil fuels. We are also exploring infrastructure development at key ports and offshore wind sites.

Our view is clear, the energy trilemma of security, cost and carbon won’t be solved by any one operator. We need flexible design, scalable tech and most importantly - collaboration.

Collaboration or stagnation

Here lies the real friction. The sector is moving quickly, but often in silos. Without shared data, harmonised carbon accounting and collaborative infrastructure planning, the supply chain will struggle to deliver the low-emission future we’re all committed to.

Developers, OEMs, ship operators, ports, regulators must all be working together on timelines, standards and responsibilities. North Star has worked hard to align with charterers like the development partners at Dogger Bank, and with OEMs and ports to test scalable green solutions. But that’s still the exception, not the rule. If we want to cut emissions fast, we need to normalise open innovation and sector-wide thinking.

Co-ordinated investment across the entire energy ecosystem, from production and storage to bunkering and delivery is essential. Without a robust and future-ready energy supply chain, marine decarbonisation efforts risk stalling, regardless of advances in vessel technology or regulatory pressure.

A fleet-wide energy transition

Our transition isn’t just technical, it’s people-centric too. In 2022, our fleet was 100% serving oil and gas. By 2030, we’ll have a more balanced fleet. By 2050, it’ll be 100% offshore wind.. It also means evolving those at the heart of this movement - our crews.

Using the skills learnt over decades in traditional seafaring, we want to upskill those workers and redefine what maritime support means in a green energy context.

We’ve already invested £1.8 million in training this year and are growing our cadetship programme with 86 future seafarers in 2024 alone. The energy transition will only work with a competent workforce powering it.

To our contemporaries across offshore wind: we can’t afford to optimise in isolation. Let’s align on emissions metrics. Let’s co-design flexible fuel strategies. Let’s pool our insights to ensure newbuilds are future proof. The infrastructure challenge is real, but we believe the collaborative solution is closer than we think.