What Are Daughter Craft? The Type 3 Tender Role in Offshore Wind and Why It’s Growing

A Vessel Class Most People Outside the Industry Have Never Heard Of

Ask most maritime professionals what a “daughter craft” is and you will get a blank look. They are not well publicised outside the offshore sector — and yet they are becoming an increasingly important part of offshore wind operations, carrying a distinct set of operational and safety challenges that the Workboat Association’s dedicated Daughter Craft subgroup is actively working to address.

Understanding them matters if you work in or are targeting offshore wind support, SOV (Service Operation Vessel) operations, or any role involving vessel access systems for offshore infrastructure.

What Is a Daughter Craft?

A daughter craft — formally classified as a Type 3 tender — is a workboat specifically designed to be launched and recovered from a parent vessel using a Launch and Recovery System (LARS). Rather than approaching a turbine or platform independently from a port, the daughter craft lives aboard a larger vessel (typically a Service Operation Vessel or a Walk-to-Work vessel), is lowered into the water when needed, used for a specific operation, and then recovered back aboard the parent vessel.

The key distinction from conventional workboats is the launch and recovery cycle. The daughter craft is not operating independently from shore — it is a deployable asset of the parent vessel, dependent on the LARS for both deployment and retrieval. This creates operational and safety challenges that do not apply to conventional CTVs or harbour craft.

Where They Are Used: Offshore Wind Operations

The primary and fastest-growing application for daughter craft in the UK is the offshore wind sector. SOVs — the large, jack-up or dynamic positioning vessels that serve as floating bases for offshore wind technicians during major maintenance campaigns — frequently carry daughter craft for final-leg access to turbines when the sea state or approach geometry makes direct vessel-to-turbine transfer from the SOV impractical.

The daughter craft bridges the operational gap between the SOV (which is too large to approach a turbine directly in all conditions) and the turbine access ladder (which requires a small, manoeuvrable vessel with minimal draught). In practice, the daughter craft enables the SOV campaign to continue in weather conditions that would otherwise ground operations, significantly improving the utilisation of an expensive offshore asset.

Beyond offshore wind, daughter craft are also used in:

• Oil and gas platform support, where access to secondary structures requires a smaller vessel than the supporting OSV
• Cable-lay and subsea operations, where the daughter craft provides survey and inspection access alongside a larger construction vessel
• Hydrographic survey operations, deploying USVs (Unmanned Survey Vessels) from a manned parent vessel

The LARS: Why Launch and Recovery Is the Central Safety Challenge

The LARS (Launch and Recovery System) is the mechanism by which the daughter craft is deployed and retrieved. LARS designs vary significantly — from davit systems through to slip-way style ramp launchers — but all share a common set of hazards:

• Dynamic loading during recovery in a seaway: Recovering a small boat in 1-2+ metre significant wave height while maintaining the parent vessel’s station-keeping is a high-risk operation. The relative motion between the daughter craft and the LARS hook or cradle creates snap-loading potential and collision risk.
• Trapped crew during recovery: Crew aboard the daughter craft during recovery must not be at risk from the recovery mechanism itself. Clear crew positioning protocols during LARS operations are essential.
• LARS equipment failure: LARS systems operating in offshore conditions are subject to significant wear. Regular inspection, certification, and maintenance of LARS equipment is a specific regulatory requirement.

The Workboat Association’s Daughter Craft subgroup, chaired by Steve Myers of North Star, is currently developing a good practice guide specifically addressing daughter craft operations — covering both the technical standards for the craft and LARS themselves, and the operational procedures for launch, recovery, and turbine approach. The guide was progressing well as of May 2026 and is expected to be published through the WA.

Qualifications and Certification for Daughter Craft Operations

Because daughter craft typically operate as part of a larger vessel’s operations rather than as independent vessels making port-to-port passages, the certification framework is less standardised than for CTVs or conventional workboats. The relevant considerations are:

• Operator of the daughter craft: Typically holds a Boatmaster’s Licence or equivalent small vessel qualification appropriate to the operational category. For offshore wind daughter craft operating within 12 nm of shore in controlled conditions, the Boatmaster Tidal or Coastal may apply.
• OPITO training: BOSIET and HUET remain mandatory for all personnel working on offshore installations, including those operating daughter craft from offshore parent vessels.
• LARS operation: The personnel operating the LARS aboard the parent vessel require specific competency in LARS operation. This is typically assessed and documented by the parent vessel’s operator rather than through an external qualification framework.
• GWO Basic Safety: Standard requirement across all offshore wind access operations.

The Career Angle

Daughter craft operations are a relatively small but technically demanding niche within the broader offshore vessel career market. The operators who field SOVs with daughter craft — including North Star, ESVAGT, Jan De Nul, and several specialist offshore vessel operators — look for personnel who combine small boat handling skills with offshore safety training and an understanding of LARS operation.

For CTV skippers or offshore workboat operators looking to move into SOV operations, daughter craft familiarity is a useful differentiator. The good practice guide under development by the Workboat Association will also provide a clearer reference framework for training and competency assessment in this area — watch for its publication through workboatassociation.org.

Add any SOV, daughter craft, or LARS operational experience to your Crew Connect profile — these are specific, searchable competencies that specialist offshore wind operators look for when crewing SOV campaigns.