Norway: Ulstein moves into offshore wind industry

The downturn in the offshore sector and a tricky market has to be met with adaptation and innovation, according to CEO Gunvor Ulstein.

‘These are tough times. The group’s results for 2015 were weak as a result of lower utilisation of capacity and the generally challenging market situation in our business areas. We believe 2016 will also be a challenging year. We are working on restructuring and development in new and future-oriented areas, but it takes time to put in place solutions that, in our view, are sustainable.’

Ulstein Group has had a strong focus on supplying design, construction and systems solutions to the offshore market in recent years.

‘The offshore market in the oil and gas sectors will be demanding for a long time to come and we have to adapt to this situation. We are engaged in developing our presence in markets such as wind and patrolling, as well as new design areas that we are presently not established in like exploration cruise vessels and yachts. We are actively working on sales and development to steer new contracts into port and we believe we will be successful in doing so,’ says Gunvor Ulstein.

In January 2015, ULSTEIN signed a contract with Bernhard Schulte Offshore for the delivery of two service vessels for the offshore wind industry. The first of these was recently launched from Ulstein Verft, watch video. This is the first ship to feature the new X-STERN™.Together with the ship’s X-BOW® this provides better performance at sea in tough weather conditions such as making it easier for ships to remain in position next to wind turbines. Deputy CEO, Tore Ulstein, notes:

‘The offshore wind industry is experiencing growth. The strong, reliable winds at sea are an important resource that has the potential to generate large quantities of renewable energy. The goal is to get down to a cost that means it is no longer dependent on state subsidies. We’re looking forward to taking new strides forward, developing new innovations and become an even more critical operator in this sector. Sustainable growth should form the basis of everything we do and developing ships and solutions that, amongst other things, reduce fuel consumption and environmentally harmful emissions is crucial,’ he says.

Ocean-based activities currently account for more than 70 per cent of Norwegian export revenues. Our future will depend on how we manage the ocean and invest in new knowledge.

‘We believe that the knowledge hub in the maritime and marine sectors will be key to utilising the opportunities offered to us by the sea in years to come. Working in an interdisciplinary manner drawing on all existing industrial clusters will be important if we are to succeed,’ conclude Gunvor and Tore Ulstein.

Ulstein Group’s key figures for 2015 are:

• Operating turnover: NOK 2.33 billion (2014: NOK 2.70 billion)
• Operating profit: NOK -95,2 million (2014: NOK 184,1 million)
• Operating result before tax: NOK -134,7 million (2013: NOK 167,7 million)