Ulstein Group
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Shipbuilding |
| Founded | 1917 (as Ulstein Mekaniske Verksted) |
| Headquarters | Ulstein, Norway |
| Key people | Gunvor Ulstein (CEO) |
| Products | Offshore vessels, ship designs and electrical solutions for the marine and industrial market. |
| Employees | 800 (2011) |
| Website | www.ulsteingroup.com |
Ulstein Group is a group of companies that focus on various marine-related industries, but is mainly known for its ship building and ship design activities. The largest unit is Ulstein Verft AS, a shipyard delivering from 3 to 5 offshore supply ships a year.[1] The most recent delivery was the Rem Mist. The ship design unit, Ulstein Design & Solutions came up with the X-bow design that in the shape of Bourbon Orca delivered in 2006 won the Ship of The Year Award both by Skipsrevyen and Offshore Support Journal.[2] The group also includes companies working with electrical and electronics solutions and most recently in shipping. 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.
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[edit] History
The company Ulstein Mekaniske Verksted was established in 1917 by Martin Ulstein. At age 23, he 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, the company was run for a long duration by his wife, Inga Ulstein. Her six children, Dagny, Inger, Magnulf, Kolbein, Idar, and Ragnhild (especially Kolbein and Idar) were responsible for the growth of the company to an employer of around 2,800 people in 1992.[3]
Vickers acquired Ulstein Group AS except the shipbuilding division in 1999, then Rolls-Royce acquired Vickers a few months later. [3]
The current CEO of Ulstein Group is Gunvor Ulstein, granddaughter of the late founder Martin Ulstein. Her brother, Tore Ulstein, is chairman of the board.
[edit] Divisions
[edit] Ulstein Verft AS
Ulstein Verft is a shipyard situated in Ulstein Group's primary base of operations, Ulsteinvik, along with Ulstein Design & Solutions and Ulstein Power & Control. Ulstein Verft is the largest employer in the group.
[edit] Ulstein Design & Solutions AS
Ulstein Design & Solutions designs advanced vessels for offshore operations. The designs are primarily vessels for the offshore market as for example Anchor handling tug supply vessel, Platform Supply Vessels, sub-sea vessels and offshore construction vessels. The Ulstein X-Bow is an example of one of the novel technologies invented.[4]
[edit] Ulstein Sea of Solutions BV
Ulstein Sea of Solutions designs large offshore construction vessels. Ulstein Sea of Solutions develops projects for operators, contractors and ship owners in the offshore drilling, construction and production market, as well as the maritime transport market. Future market trends and end user needs are the key drivers for developing and providing their new floating concepts to the offshore oil and gas industries and the offshore wind industry.
[edit] Ulstein Power & Control AS
Ulstein Power & Control manufactures marine electrical, control, and communication systems. Among these are ULSTEIN COM and ULSTEIN IAS. The IAS is an integrated automation system with redundant architecture system mainly for vessel and engine management and control. ULSTEIN COM is a marine telecommunications and data communications system.
[edit] Ulstein Belga Marine AS
The former Belga Marine of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was acquired by Ulstein Group AS and renamed 'Ulstein Belga Marine It provides electrical and control systems for the large offshore and merchant market in Brazil.
[edit] Ulstein Es-Cad AS
By merging a track record within merchant and short sea shipping with the expertise and proprietary technologies of the Ulstein Group, Ulstein Es-Cad develops solutions for merchant and short sea shipping.
[edit] Ulstein Vessels
Ulstein Group AS has a long history of a variety of ship construction. The X-bow is one of the most noteworthy advances in ship design innovation—literally altering the familiar appearance of ships to resemble in layman's terms a road vehicles such as transport trucks.[5]
[edit] Ulstein A-Series
The Ulstein A-Series are anchor handling tug supply vessels (AHTS). Noteworthy vessels are the Olympic Zeus and sister ship Olympic Hera. They are 93.8 metres (308 ft) long and 23 metres (75 ft) wide and has a bollard pull of 250 tonnes (280 tons). These are the largest anchor handling vessels of the A design by Ulstein Verft. The vessels innovate via a hybrid propulsion system where ships may switch between diesel-mechanical and diesel-electric propulsion or combine the two for maximal pull and optimum fuel efficiency. The ship has DP2 (dynamic positioning), an ROV garage and accommodations for 68 persons. This feature allows major economic and environmental cost-savings benefits.[6]
[edit] Ulstein P-Series
The Ulstein P-Series are platform supply vessels (PSV)
[edit] Ulstein S-Series
The Ulstein S-Series are specialized vessels including, among others, offshore construction vessels and specialized multifunctional vessels.
[edit] Ulstein X-bow
The Ulstein X-bow [7] is a new inverted ship's bow designed to improve handling in rough sea and lower fuel consumption. The Bourbon Orca, design AX104 is an Ulstein A-Series Anchor Handling Tug Supply vessel, built for Bourbon Offshore Norway, and was the first ship built with the Ulstein X-bow.[8] In 2007, the design was included in London Science Museums display of innovative technology
[edit] References
- ^ Ulstein Group. "Chronologically by building". http://www.ulsteingroup.com/Kunder/ulstein/cms66.nsf/$all/27D89843CD4C2BDCC12571C00045E1B8?open&ql=AboutLayout&qm=wcm_2,4,4,1,0,0/. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
- ^ "Ship of the Year 2006 – M/V "Bourbon Orca"". Skipsrevyen. http://www.shipoftheyear.com/ship-of-the-year-2006/ship-of-the-year-2006/. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
- ^ a b Grytten, Harald (2007). Creative Enthusiasm for 90 Years: 1917-2007: Ulstein. Ulsteinkonsernet.
- ^ Ships monthly. 40. Endlebury Publishing Company. 2005.
- ^ Shipping World & Shipbuilder. 206. 2005. pp. 4–20.
- ^ "Olympic ships made by Ulstein design". Scandinavian Oil and Gas Magazine. http://www.scandoil.com/moxie-bm2/news/olympic-ships-made-by-ulstein-design.shtml.
- ^ Dagens Næringsliv. November 15, 2008. p. 24.
- ^ Naval architect. Royal Institution of Naval Architects. 2003
[edit] Further reading
- Lloyd's maritime directory, Lloyd's of London Press, 2004: ISBN 184311335X
- Lloyd's ship manager: LSM, Lloyd's of London Press: 2003
