BS Offshore Completes CSOV Quartet with Methanol-Ready Windea Clarke

Bernhard Schulte Offshore (BS Offshore) has taken delivery of Windea Clarke, the fourth and final methanol-ready CSOV in its latest newbuilding series from Norway’s Ulstein Verft. Featuring the advanced TWIN X-STERN hull design and a DNV SILENT-E notation to protect marine life, the vessel expands BSO’s offshore fleet to seven units and will immediately deploy to an offshore wind project in the UK North Sea.

Ulsteinvik, Norway | July 2, 2026 – Bernhard Schulte Offshore (BSO) has finalized a critical phase of its offshore fleet expansion following the delivery and christening of the Windea Clarke at Norway’s Ulstein Verft yard. The vessel is the fourth and final unit in a highly specialized, homogeneous series of next-generation Commissioning Service Operation Vessels (CSOVs) ordered by the German owner. The completion of this newbuilding program expands BSO’s dedicated offshore fleet to seven active units.

The Windea Clarke will immediately transit to the UK North Sea to commence its maiden seasonal charter on an undisclosed offshore wind project.

Decarbonization and Low-Emission Design

Built to an advanced Ulstein design, the Windea Clarke and its sister vessels focus heavily on environmental performance and structural efficiency. The series features Ulstein’s signature TWIN X-STERN solution, a double-ended hull design featuring main thrusters at both the bow and stern. This specialized architecture reduces vessel motion, improves station-keeping during dynamic positioning (DP) operations, and significantly cuts fuel consumption in harsh North Sea environments.

The TWIN X-STERN® Operational Mechanics

• Symmetrical Hull Architecture: The vessel features a unique double-ended hull profile with identical thruster arrangements at both the bow and stern, eliminating the traditional “front” and “back” operational limitations during dynamic positioning (DP).
• Multi-Directional Station-Keeping: By placing primary propulsion units at both ends, the ship can maintain its position next to wind turbines regardless of which way the wind or current is blowing.
• Reduced Motion & Fuel Burn: This symmetry allows the vessel to cut through waves smoothly in any direction, significantly reducing hull resistance, shifting motions, and the fuel consumption required to stay on station.

The propulsion architecture is built around a hybrid battery-diesel setup. Furthermore, the vessel’s technical layout has been designed as methanol-ready, creating a clear pathway for future retrofits to zero-emission green methanol once fuel supply chains mature.

“With Windea Clarke, we are completing a strategically important series of vessels that strengthens our ability to support offshore projects with reliable tonnage while significantly reducing the environmental footprint,” said Matthias Müller, Managing Director of Bernhard Schulte Offshore. “It enables us to deliver efficient and scalable services across construction, commissioning, and maintenance phases.”

“The delivery of ‘Windea Clarke’ marks another milestone in our strong and valued partnership with Bernhard Schulte Offshore. Their continued trust in Ulstein reflects a shared ambition to challenge the oceans and push the boundaries of offshore vessel design,” says Gunvor Ulstein, CEO of Ulstein Group.

Mitigating Underwater Acoustic Impact

A standout technical feature of the Windea Clarke is its DNV SILENT-E class notation. This certification verifies that the vessel adheres to strict acoustic thresholds, minimizing its underwater radiated noise (URN) emissions to protect fragile marine ecosystems.

To secure the notation, Ulstein and BSO implemented several specialized engineering measures:

• Optimized Propeller Geometry: Specially designed blades minimize cavitation, the primary driver of underwater vessel noise.
• Structural Vibration Control: Structural dampening and resilient machinery mounts isolate engine and thruster vibrations from the hull.
• Noise-Aware Layout: Internal machinery placement was holistically designed to minimize acoustic transfer through the ship’s skin.

Technical Specifications & Offshore Logistics Capabilities

Designed as a floating logistics hub for offshore wind technicians, the vessel incorporates highly automated transfer systems to ensure safe workflows in high sea states.

Commemorating Engineering Pioneers

In keeping with BSO’s naming convention for this series, the vessel honors trailblazing scientists who shaped modern infrastructure. The ship is named after Edith Clarke (1883–1959), a pioneer in electrical engineering whose mathematical methods and analytical tools laid the foundation for modern power grid engineering.

The delivery solidifies BSO’s position as a premium tier-one asset provider within the renewable energy sector, equipping the Schulte Group subsidiary with a unified, standardized fleet to service increasingly complex deepwater wind arrays.

About Bernhard Schulte Offshore (BS Offshore)

Bernhard Schulte Offshore (BS Offshore) is the offshore unit of the Schulte Group. Founded in 2015, the Hamburg-based company acts as an asset provider responsible for the group’s offshore activities in the offshore wind, oil, and gas markets. The Schulte Group is an international, family-owned group of companies specialising in ship owning, ship management, maritime software solutions, maritime services and asset management. With over 140 years of expertise in the industry, the Schulte Group controls a modern and diversified fleet of over 80 fully or partly owned vessels and manages 670 ships. Through its global network of more than 30 offices in major shipping locations, the Schulte Group employs 40,000 crew and over 5,000 people on shore.

Source: Bernhard Schulte Offshore