Ulstein wins large newbuilding contract

Ulstein Verft AS in Norway is to build a construction vessel for Solstad/SBM, a

joint-venture company owned by Solstad and the Monaco based Single Buoy Moorings

(SBM) group. The project is one of the largest single projects the shipyard has

gained to date both in terms of weight and size and is worth around $93 million. Delivery is slated for January 2006.

“All 400 employees in the Ulstein group will be involved in the building

project, and the contract will have vast spin-off effects in the region. The

contract was won against strong competition from Norwegian, other European and

Asian shipyards. Together with its other build projects, Ulstein Verft now has

orders on hand worth more than $143 million, plus we have an option for one

ULSTEIN P105,” says Tore Ulstein, President of Ulstein Verft.

“The vessel will be 123.80 metres long, have a width of 28 metres and involve

6,000 tonnes of steel. Vik-Sandvik is responsible for the design. It is a major project that will demand a lot from us,” says Ulstein Verft’s Sales & Marketing Manager, Harald M?ller. “The construction vessel is equipped with a moon pool, anchor handling winches,

an ‘A’ frame and a heave-compensated 250 tonne offshore crane. The vessel will be

fitted out for 100 people and everything onboard will be big. In total the vessel will produce almost 24,000 kW. It will be a challenging project. Not just because of the size of the vessel, but also because of the short delivery-time. We have developed a good partnership with Solstad and it will be exciting to work with SBM again for whom we built vessels for in the 1980s,” says M?ller.

The purchasing and planning phases of the project have started, but the actual steel cutting phase is scheduled to start in the middle of November 2004. Ulstein Verft’s Vanylven division is going to build the superstructure, with a start up date in December. It will deliver sections until April 2005. The forepart and aft ship of the vessel will be built at our partner shipyard in Poland, Maritim Ltd. The forepart will arrive at Ulstein Verft in Ulsteinvik in May, while the stern will arrive in July. The delivery date has been set for 20th January 2006.