Type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Shipbuilding, ship design, power and control, maritime systems and solutions |
Founded | 1917 (as Ulstein Mekaniske Verksted) |
Headquarters | Ulstein, Norway |
Key people | Tore Ulstein (Chair of the Board), Gunvor Ulstein (Deputy chair of the Board), Cathrine Kristiseter Marti (CEO Ulstein Group) |
Products | Ship newbuilds, conversions and repairs, ship designs, power & control for the maritime market. |
Website | ulstein |
Ulstein Group is a group of companies that focus on various marine-related industries, but is mainly known for its shipbuilding and ship design activities. The largest unit is Ulstein Verft AS. [1] The company's head office and primary operations are located in the town of Ulsteinvik in the municipality of Ulstein in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway, an important area for the Norwegian maritime cluster, and with subsidiaries in several other countries. The group also includes companies working with power & control systems and solutions, engineering, site follow-up and aftermarket services. The company has also been engaged in shipping.
The original company, Ulstein Mekaniske Verksted, was established in 1917 by Martin Ulstein and his brother-in-law Andreas Flø. [2] At age 23, Martin and Andreas founded the company to modify local fishing boats, which were undergoing a global transition from sail-power to motorization. Martin Ulstein borrowed money from Ulstein Sparebank, with his father acting as guarantor, acquired 800 square metres (8,600 sq ft) of land from his uncle and set up shop with his brother-in-law and business partner Andreas Flø.
After Martin Ulstein's sudden death, his widow Inga took the position as Head of the Board, a position she held for many years. Their six children, Dagny, Inger, Magnulf, Kolbein, Idar, and Ragnhild (especially Kolbein and Idar) were responsible for the growth of the company to around 4,000 people at the end of the 1990s. [3]
Vickers acquired Ulstein Group AS except the shipbuilding division in 1999, then Rolls-Royce acquired Vickers a few months later. [4]
The new shipbuilding division was demerged and named UMV Holding and forms the basis for today’s new Ulstein Group. In 2000, the new design activity in Ulstein was established (currently: Ulstein Design & Solutions AS) which began developing Ulstein designs. [5] The ULSTEIN X-BOW®, the inverted bow concept, redefined marine engineering. The bow concept was launched in 2005, together with the first shipbuilding contract, and gained immediate interest from shipowners. [6] .
Still family-owned, a representative of the third generation, Tore Ulstein, is chairman of the board and CEO of Ulstein Group is Gunvor Ulstein.
Ulstein Verft AS is a shipyard situated in Ulstein Group's primary base of operations, Ulsteinvik. Ulstein Verft was established in 1917, and is the largest employer in the group. The yard specialises in constructing advanced vessels, the latest being cable laying vessels, offshore wind service vessels, expedition cruise vessels, yachts and passenger (RoPax) vessels. [7] Focusing on newbuilds and larger conversions, the yard also takes on service and aftermarket assignments such as docking, mooring, classifications, upgrades, maintenance and repair, crane lifts and barge transportation. Many, but not all, vessels built are based on Ulstein's own design, the 'Ulstein design' for which three hull line innovations are often implemented, the inverted bow, X-BOW®, [8] , the X-STERN® [9] hull and the TWIN X-STERN. Two recent newbuild deliveries were the cable-laying vessel Nexans Aurora (2021) and the expedition cruise vessel 'National Geographic Resolution' (2021).
Ulstein Elektro Installasjon AS is part of the shipbuilding division in ULSTEIN. The company is responsible for electrical installations on board vessels at Ulstein Verft.
Ulstein Design & Solutions AS is located in Ulsteinvik, Norway. The company develops ship designs and offers complete equipment packages for ship construction worldwide. The designs include vessels for the offshore renewables market (offshore wind), passenger vessels, cruise vessels and yachts, fisheries, and the offshore oil and gas market (Offshore Construction (OCV), IMR vessels, cable laying, platform supply vessels (PSVs) and Anchor handling tug supply vessels. Services also include CFD analyses, project management, site supervision, installation and commissioning as well as redesigns for conversions and upgrades. Ten years after the company introduced the patented X-BOW® (Inverted bow) the number of such designs sold passed the 100-mark. [10] An add-on for the ship's stern, the X-STERN, [11] was launched in 2014, and received the Next Generation Ship Award 2015. [12] A third hull innovation, the TWIN X-STERN, was firstly contracted for offshore wind service vessels in 2022. [13]
Ulstein Design & Solutions BV designs large offshore construction vessels. The company develops projects for operators, contractors and ship owners in the offshore drilling, renewables, heavy-lift, construction and production market, as well as the maritime transport (feeder) market. Future market trends and end-user needs are the key drivers for developing and providing their new floating concepts to the offshore wind industry and the offshore oil and gas industries. One of the latest projects is its design for a semi-submersible foundation installation vessel, Seaway 7's Seaway Alfa Lift. [14]
Ulstein Power & Control offers worldwide services and retrofit of power packages and marine automation systems.
Ulstein Poland is a part of an engineering pool in Ulstein Group and provides engineering services, as well as hull, outfitting and machinery documentation and on-site yard support.
Ulstein Marine Systems (Shanghai) is a marketing and sales office based in China. The company offers engineering capacities and site support to Ulstein's ship design activities in China.
Ulstein Marine Equipment (Ningbo) manufactures electrical components and systems for offshore vessels developed by ULSTEIN.
Ulstein Electrical Technology (Ningbo) is engaged in technical consulting, installation, commissioning and after-sales service.
Ulstein International is located in Ulsteinvik, Norway, and has a worldwide presence by managing the global sales activities in Ulstein Group and supporting and facilitating international growth. Engaged in consulting, project establishments and business development.
Blue Ctrl develops and delivers future-oriented, reliable marine automation and control systems. Its automation products are based on the future-oriented automation platform X-CONNECT®, which makes it easy and efficient for partners to configure and automatically update and implement automation systems on board vessels. Ulstein holds 50 per cent ownership in this company.
The ULSTEIN X-BOW, an inverted bow, [15] introduces the gentle displacer, ship's bow a tapered fore ship shape with a different volume distribution as well as sectional angles, resulting in a wave piercing effect at small wave heights, and also reduces pitching and bow impact loads in bigger seas. The anchorhandling tug supply vessel, Bourbon Orca , built for Bourbon Offshore Norway, was the first ship built with the ULSTEIN X-BOW in 2006. [16] In 2017, Norges Bank, the Central Bank of Norway, introduced a new series of banknotes, with the X-BOW featured on the NOK 100 note. [17] In (2019), the X-BOW was introduced to the cruise industry. [18] Later developments from the X-BOW include the X-STERN, [19] which introduces the documented X-BOW® effect to the aft ship, and the TWIN X-STERN [20] for improved operability and fuel efficiency.
A multihull is a boat or ship with more than one hull, whereas a vessel with a single hull is a monohull. The most common multihulls are catamarans, and trimarans. There are other types, with four or more hulls, but such examples are very rare and tend to be specialised for particular functions.
Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and operation of marine vessels and structures. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation (classification) and calculations during all stages of the life of a marine vehicle. Preliminary design of the vessel, its detailed design, construction, trials, operation and maintenance, launching and dry-docking are the main activities involved. Ship design calculations are also required for ships being modified. Naval architecture also involves formulation of safety regulations and damage-control rules and the approval and certification of ship designs to meet statutory and non-statutory requirements.
Ulstein is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The commercial and administrative centre of Ulstein is the town of Ulsteinvik. The municipality occupies the western half of the island of Hareidlandet, as well as about 30 smaller islands, four of which are populated.
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes more involved with original construction, dockyards are sometimes more linked with maintenance and basing activities. The terms are routinely used interchangeably, in part because the evolution of dockyards and shipyards has often caused them to change or merge roles.
Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) vessels are mainly built to handle anchors for oil rigs, tow them to location, and use them to secure the rigs in place. AHTS vessels sometimes also serve as Emergency Response and Rescue Vessels (ERRVs) and as supply transports.
is a town in the municipality of Ulstein, Møre og Romsdal, Norway. The town is the commercial and administrative centre of Ulstein and as such, Ulsteinvik contains 74% of the municipality's population. The 3.85-square-kilometre (950-acre) town has a population (2018) of 5,788 and a population density of 1,503 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,890/sq mi).
The bow is the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is usually most forward when the vessel is underway. The aft end of the boat is the stern.
USS Sumter (LST-1181) was the third of twenty Newport-class tank landing ships in service with the United States Navy, which replaced the traditional bow door-design tank landing ships (LSTs). Sumter was constructed by Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was launched in 1969. The ship entered service in 1970, was assigned to the Pacific coast of the United States and deployed to the western Pacific twice during the Vietnam War. In 1973, Sumter was reassigned to the Atlantic coast and took part in operations in along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, the Mediterranean Sea and the Caribbean Sea. The LST was decommissioned in 1993.
Sigmund Borgundvåg is a Norwegian naval architect of offshore vessels including platform supply ships and deep-sea tugs.
A wave-piercing boat hull has a very fine bow, with reduced buoyancy in the forward portions. When a wave is encountered, the lack of buoyancy means the hull pierces through the water rather than riding over the top, resulting in a smoother ride than traditional designs, and in diminished mechanical stress on the vessel. It also reduces a boat's wave-making resistance.
USS Peoria (LST-1183) was a Newport-class tank landing ship which replaced the traditional bow door-design tank landing ships (LSTs). The vessel took part in the Vietnam War and Gulf War. The ship was constructed by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego, California and was launched in 1968 and commissioned in 1970. Named for a city in Illinois, Peoria was assigned to the United States Pacific Fleet and home ported at San Diego. The tank landing ship alternated between military exercises along the United States west coast and deployments to the western Pacific. Peoria took part in the evacuations of Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Saigon, South Vietnam, both of which signaled the end of American involvement in the respective countries. The vessel was decommissioned 1994 and sunk as a target ship during a RIMPAC naval exercise in 2004.
A sailing yacht, is a leisure craft that uses sails as its primary means of propulsion. A yacht may be a sail or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, so the term applies here to sailing vessels that have a cabin with amenities that accommodate overnight use. To be termed a "yacht", as opposed to a "boat", such a vessel is likely to be at least 33 feet (10 m) in length and have been judged to have good aesthetic qualities. Sailboats that do not accommodate overnight use or are smaller than 30 feet (9.1 m) are not universally called yachts. Sailing yachts in excess of 130 feet (40 m) are generally considered to be superyachts.
GC Rieber Shipping is a Norwegian shipping company that operates offshore subsea support vessels, marine seismic vessels and polar logistics and research expeditions. Based in Bergen, Norway it is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. A major owner is GC Rieber.
MS Nordkapp is a Hurtigruten ship built in 1996 by Kleven Verft AS, Norway, for Ofotens og Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab for use in Hurtigruten ferry service along the coast of Norway. She is a sister ship of MS Polarlys and MS Nordnorge. Nordkapp is one of 11 ships that travel the Norwegian coast from Bergen to Kirkenes.
In ship design, an inverted bow is a ship's or large boat's bow whose farthest forward point is not at the top. The result may somewhat resemble a submarine's bow. Inverted bows maximize the length of waterline and hence the hull speed, and have often better hydrodynamic drag than ordinary bows. On the other hand, they have very little reserve buoyancy and tend to dive under waves instead of piercing or going over them.
Kleven Group is the parent company for Kleven shipyard and Myklebust shipyard, and is one of the largest companies in Ulsteinvik besides Rolls-Royce Marine and Ulstein Group. Kleven Group had about 450 employees in 2011.
Gemini is a 600 megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm off the coast of the Netherlands. Construction started in 2015 with final commissioning in 2017. At the time of completion it was the second largest offshore wind farm on Earth after the London Array.
Tore Ulstein is Chair of the Board in Ulstein Group and member of the board in several of the companies in Ulstein Group, and in Ulsmo, Head of the Board at SINTEF and member of the Board at GC Rieber AS. Tore Ulstein is the son of Ulstein Group's previous CEO, Idar Ulstein (1934–2012).
MS Color Hybrid is a cruiseferry owned and operated by Color Line on their route between Sandefjord in Norway and Strömstad in Sweden. The largest plug-in diesel-electric hybrid vessel in the world, she entered service in August 2019.
MS Fridtjof Nansen is a Norwegian cruise ship. Named after polar explorer and scientist Fridtjof Nansen, it is a near identical twin to MS Roald Amundsen. It is a hybrid powered Polar Class 6 ship built by Kleven Yards Ulsteinvik for Hurtigruten.