2024 marks 50 years of ship design work for Kongsberg Maritime. From setting the benchmark that set the usual for offshore provide vessels within the Nineteen Seventies, to superior anchor handlers that reworked the oil and gasoline trade, and a rising reference listing in fishery and service provider ships, Kongsberg Maritime’s vary of ship designs has continued to evolve over the previous 5 many years.
The early Nineteen Seventies, on the daybreak of the offshore oil and gasoline trade, noticed the very first vessels, designed particularly for the cruel working circumstances of the North Sea.
The ‘UT Design’ vary quickly turned the benchmark design for the trade and have remained on the forefront of the offshore trade ever since. The UT design vary has additionally developed to incorporate different ship varieties together with oceanographic analysis, coastal safety and most not too long ago vessels designed particularly for working in offshore wind farms.
In different markets, overlaying cargo, passenger and fishing fleets, the corporate has delivered round 200 ships from its ‘NVC’ household of designs. Over the years, NVC designs have lined a variety of vessels. These embrace cargo ships and high-speed Ro-Pax ferries, explorer cruise ships and an in depth vary of vessels for the fisheries and aquaculture market.
Lisa Edvardsen Haugan, President Kongsberg Maritime, mentioned: “As we reach our 50th year, we’re delighted to report that we will also soon be delivering our 1,000th ship design. In the same way as the very first UT 704 platform supply vessel ventured out into the North Sea back in 1974 as a pioneer of its time, our latest state-of-the art windfarm service operation vessels (CSOV) – a fleet of six ‘Skywalker Class’ UT5519 DE for Integrated Wind Solutions – will again be pioneering operations in the energy markets offshore.”
Kongsberg Maritime’s ship design philosophy is centered round three key pillars: security; operational effectivity and sustainability. Many of the ships designed by the corporate function in a number of the harshest circumstances on the planet, so there may be at all times a laser-sharp deal with security in all designs. Operational effectivity is one other essential component, with a rising demand for vessels that may function effectively for many years.
Haugan provides: “The most significant driver impacting how we design ships today, is sustainability. It’s not only regulators that are demanding ships have lower emissions, owners, faced with higher fuel costs, want vessels that use less energy, so there is a shift towards more electrification and battery-hybrid solutions. The use of alternative fuels is also very relevant for how ships are designed, such as methanol and ammonia fueled ships.”
The Kongsberg Maritime ship design group is predicated in Hjørungavåg and Aalesund on the west coast of Norway and is supported by a Kongsberg-owned Croatian firm, Navis Consult, which gives a spread of engineering companies in help of the corporate’s merchandise and ship design tasks.
Some of essentially the most important vessel designs within the firm’s historical past are:
UT – an offshore pioneer
At the daybreak of North Sea offshore oil and gasoline within the early Nineteen Seventies, the selection of offshore vessel was restricted, with the one choices being easy service vessels used within the comparatively shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico. They have been quickly discovered to be missing in functionality, significantly sufficient freeboard, and seakeeping.
The answer to those early challenges got here from a small shipyard group on the west coast of Norway. Ulstein Trading (UT), formally arrange in 1967 because the gross sales and ship design firm throughout the Ulstein Group, quickly set about designing what would develop into the vessel of selection for the offshore trade.
They checked out particular necessities for the rising oil and gasoline operations and importantly, consulted with Norwegian fishing fleet house owners, who had huge expertise of working within the North Sea. The outcome was the ‘UT’ design, and the UT 704 platform provide vessel entered service in 1974. More than 800 UT vessels have been constructed, whereas the bulk are for offshore operations, the design has advanced for different duties together with coastguard, analysis, and development.
The origins of the NVC service provider ship portfolio
It started with a Norwegian firm known as Nordvestconsult, a design home initially engaged on fishing vessels and a wide range of dry cargo vessels. In the late Nineties, the corporate was acquired by the Ulstein Group, which was already designing and constructing vessels for the offshore market, with a longtime popularity. The coming collectively of the 2 firms provided a broader vary of ship design experience to the market. The ship expertise a part of Ulstein Group was then offered to the British firm Vickers, and Rolls-Royce in 1999, then in 2019 it turned a part of Kongsberg Maritime.
