Service Operation Vessel (SOV)

A service operation vessel (SOV) is the floating base for offshore-wind maintenance, an offshore-support hull that houses around 40 to 90 technicians for weeks at a time and transfers them to turbines through a motion-compensated walk-to-work gangway. Dynamic positioning holds the ship beside the turbine while the gangway compensates for vessel motion, so transfers continue in seas that ground a crew transfer vessel, often up to 2.5 to 3 meters significant wave height. SOVs serve far-from-shore and deepwater farms where daily commuting by CTV is impractical, and they carry a deck crane, a daughter craft, and a spares store. The construction variant, the CSOV, supports installation and major component work.