OSV Market: Howling Wind Test Tight CSOV Market

Windea Clarke CSOV © Ulstein Group

As the market moves toward the end of the summer season in the northern hemisphere, several offshore support vessels are expected to roll off their contracts over the coming months. Shipowners are thus already positioning tonnage for the winter and next summer season. The CSOV market has remained tight over the past three months with multiple spot fixtures above EUR 60,000 per day.

Throughout the season the market has also seen nine newbuilds delivered since early May, but the market has absorbed the additional tonnage without difficulty. Four of these vessels did admittedly already have long-term commitments in place, while the remaining five secured contracts upon delivery. Notably, five of the latest deliveries had been delayed by more than six months.

Shipowners’ behavior currently reflects two distinct commercial strategies. Some operators are prioritising utilisation, accepting lower dayrates to secure forward coverage. Others, typically with limited backlog, are instead seeking premium pricing as one of few remaining available units. For this particular summer season, we have seen vessel suppliers achieving these premium dayrates, however, historically those same shipowners have typically achieved lower utilisation through the winter months.

Moreover, 2026 thus far has brought a higher degree of seasonal fixtures compared with 2025. The tight summer market is primarily due to newbuild deliveries being delayed combined with construction delays at several of the largest offshore wind farms. Dogger Bank remains one of several large offshore wind farms that have been significantly delayed. SSE has consequently chartered three additional vessels; two from commencing May and one from late July, at least two of those are expected to remain employed for the remainder of the year.

Several other offshore wind projects have also faced delays, requiring operators to extend C/SOV coverage by a few additional months, adding incremental demand. Most of the seasonal contracts were previously expected to roll off from August, but further delays, not to mention potentially lower extension rates versus new fixtures levels, have shifted this availability toward October.

Longer-term awards were also secured for projects in Poland, including Baltyk II, Baltyk III, and Baltica 2, charted in by Equinor and Ørsted. At the time of writing, four vessels had been fixed for these projects with delivery expected in August and the coming months. Most of the current outstanding C/SOV requirements appear to be in Poland, however, we expect more vessels to be fixed for both O&M and ad-hoc requirements throughout this year and next year.
Activity in Taiwan has started to soften, with fewer requirements and more availability gaps among vessel owners. Japan, Vietnam, and South Korea as well remain uncertain as despite multiple projects in pipeline, several projects have yet to reach FID and may be delayed.

Overall, a softer APAC market could push tonnage into alternative work scopes, including O&G, accommodation work or relocation to Europe. And on that note, Europe remains healthy for now, with limited tonnage and construction delays pushing dayrates to new peaks. Winter backlog remains limited for several owners however, but open tonnage has so far continued to be absorbed through extensions and ad-hoc work. The latest development in the industry looks much more promising now in the short-term compared with what we saw in the beginning of the summer, mainly due to further newbuilding delays and project delays.

Acta Gemini CSOV © Acta Marine

Record Deliveries Reshape the Supply Side

Recent deliveries include Acta Gemini, delivered in early June and now working on long-term charter with RWE in the UK. Norwind Offshore also took delivery of the Norwind Mistral and Norwind Sirocco in July, both of which went directly into operation. Furthermore, Bernhard Schulte Offshore also took delivery of the Windea Clarke, which is now operating at Doggerbank for SSE. Finally, Windward Munich was delivered from VARD Vung Tau in July and is mobilising to Europe ahead of its first job in September.

Looking ahead, we expect a further eight C/SOVs to be delivered this year, bringing total number of newbuild deliveries this year to 22 vessels - the highest annual delivery volume of C/SOVs recorded to date. Furthermore, another 20 new deliveries are expected in 2027, which is also a significant number of supply side additions. Rather pressingly some would say, the wave of C/SOV newbuild ordering has effectively come to a halt. More than 80 vessels were ordered between 2021 and 2024, driven by expectations of rapid offshore wind expansion. Ordering activity slowed materially in 2025, with only eight newbuildings contracted, of which five were backed by long-term charter agreements. No new C/SOV orders have been placed so far in 2026.

In the O&G market, Petrobras recently awarded three new contracts in Brazil. The Normand Valiant and two Windcat vessels have been awarded 830-days of firm contract days, which will keep the units in Brazil for the next two years at least.

Offshore Wind Ambitions Face Growing Headwinds

Several global developments are likely to shape offshore wind demand in the coming years. Recent signals around previously awarded sites remain mixed. Developers such as TotalEnergies and JERA Nex BP are reportedly considering returning German sites awarded between 2023 and 2025. A similar trend was seen in the UK after AR7, when EnBW announced its withdrawal from the 3 GW Mona and Morgan projects.

Although these projects had not secured subsidy support, the decisions illustrate the fragility of the current offshore wind market. The UK government has since announced plans to retender the cancelled Morgan project later this year. Besides these activities the Trump administration has caused headache for the offshore wind projects in the US. These uncertainties have recently weakened the market sentiment and reduced the appetite for new investments across the sector.

With almost eight months of the year behind us, several countries have lowered their targets for 2030. The UK remains the most ambitious, still targeting 50 GW by 2030. Based on the AR7 results and the current pipeline, around 30 GW by 2030 appears more realistic, still materially below the target. South Korea has reduced its target from 14.3 GW to 10.5 GW, although even this appears challenging at the current pace of development, with several sources indicating around 2 GW may be achieved. Vietnam is also reconsidering its 17 GW target for 2030 and may shift the target year to 2035, while the Netherlands has delayed its 21 GW target to 2032. 

Overall, future C/SOV demand appears increasingly concentrated in a few stronger markets, including Taiwan, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, France, and the UK.

Despite softer sentiment and growing uncertainty around offshore wind ambitions by 2030, the C/SOV market has strengthened through the summer, supported by project delays, extended vessel requirements and further newbuild postponements. Europe remains the key demand driver, with limited availability continuing to support elevated dayrates and high utilisation. While the record orderbook will add significant supply through 2027, the lack of new ordering activity and continued absorption of available tonnage suggest that market fundamentals remain constructive in the near term, although a more selective market environment may emerge as deliveries accelerate and longterm project visibility becomes increasingly concentrated in a handful of key regions.