The UK’s addition of Ocean Winds to the Celtic Sea floating wind winners completes the field—and starts the procurement clock. For vessels, this points to defined waves of surveys, float-out/tow spreads, and SOV-led O&M that will absorb CTVs, AHTS, tugs, multicats, and construction tonnage across the western approaches. If you own capable DP2 assets, prepare to pre-qualify; if you charter, treat the next 3–5 years of capacity like competitive real estate.

Here’s how the curve likely unfolds: first, geophysical/geotechnical and UXO campaigns lift demand for survey vessels and shallow-draft multipurpose workboats along cable corridors. Next, mooring and float-out require DP2 AHTS with high bollard pull for primary tows, backed by towing tugs and construction support vessels for mooring installation, dynamic cable handling, and wet-storage guarding. Finally, O&M at distance tilts toward SOV routines with motion-compensated gangways, while CTVs run efficient feeder and crew-rotation legs to port. Expect premiums for DP2, W2W-certified gangways, strong deck capacities, and tight station-keeping in Celtic Sea metocean.

A concrete trend to watch: CTV scheduling shifts from day-by-day hires to multi-week blocks aligned to SOV campaigns, improving certainty but reducing spot flexibility. On the installation side, simultaneous float-outs can create AHTS squeezes; charterers mitigate this by locking framework agreements 9–12 months ahead and bundling options across survey→installation→O&M. Owners who invest in DP2 upgrades and hybridization can capture higher utilization and lower emissions per task—advantages that are increasingly written into pre-qualification.

Bottom line: Celtic Sea floating wind will be SOV-led with DP2 AHTS bottlenecks—those who plan early with data win on rate, schedule, and carbon.

If you’d like to discuss your offshore projects, reach us anytime at sales@seavium.com.