Following the sales to Bourbon Offshore Norway of the second and third ship designs featuring X-BOW, Group CEO Gunvor Ulstein was asked by the media whether the hull design was now a success. 'Come back when we've sold 100!' Gunvor said in reply.
'We can now see that X-BOW has been a huge success in the more recent history of ULSTEIN. When we sold our UT design to Rolls-Royce in 1999, we decided to build a new design portfolio and quickly came up with the concept for the new hull design,' says Chair of the Board, Tore Ulstein. He is also Head of Markets & Innovation at ULSTEIN.
'Tank testing showed that this was something worth investing in,' explains Tore Ulstein, before continuing: 'The characteristics of the first ships with this hull design allowed them to sail in heavy seas at higher speeds, or to maintain their speed while consuming less fuel. At the same time, you avoided bow impact from waves, which increases comfort for the crew on board. Also, the waves do not climb over the top of the hull. Also, there is less spray being generated, meaning there is less ice formation in cold waters - something that is very important from a safety perspective,' he explains.
'We want to thank everyone who has helped during the course of these years, and who have been a part of developing a broad and solid portfolio of ships featuring the X-BOW,' says Tore Ulstein.
Expertise through owning a shipyard
The ships for Bernhard Schulte/WINDEA will be built at Ulstein Verft.
'ULSTEIN has almost 100 years of experience in building ships. Ulstein Verft is known for building advanced specialist vessels and prototypes. With our own shipyard within the group, we are able to offer tried and tested designs, systems and solutions, which reduce project risk and are important when it comes to winning contracts internationally. This is also the case with our X-BOW design, with 29 out 100 ships having been built at our own shipyard,' says Tore Ulstein.
First with X-STERN®
The new contract with Bernhard Schulte/WINDEA also marks the market entry of X-STERN.
'ULSTEIN invests more than NOK 100 million into innovation and creation on an annual basis. In order to keep this up, it is important to succeed in creating value both nationally and internationally, and for us to deliver new and improved solutions for sustainable marine operations. X-STERN is a good example of this, and it's naturally great news that X-BOW number 100 will also be the first to feature the new X-STERN innovation,' says Tore Ulstein.
X-BOW and X-STERN ensure reduced pitching and wave drift power, and eliminate slamming, and also reduces power and fuel consumption when the ship is in position and when it is in transit.
In total, 125 ships have been sold of the ULSTEIN designs after 1999.
