Page 49: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Jan/Feb 2026)

48 50

“None of us could give a proper answer,” admitted Tore Ulstein.

The Chair and co-owner of Ulstein Group smiled at the memory of that 2003 workshop—the catalyst for a new

THE X-BOW era. This turning point came fve years after his family had sold their original design business, known for the UT de- signs (short for Ulstein Trading). Following the 1999 sale,

Tore’s father, Idar Ulstein, announced the group would build its in-house design capabilities from scratch. Tore— an engineer with a Ph.D. in marine hydrodynamics—was

REVOLUTION: tasked with leading the new team. In 2002, this unit be- came the subsidiary Ulstein Design AS.

“Our strategy was clear from day one: we had to dif- ferentiate,” Ulstein explained. “If we had tried to compete

How a "Simple Question" with the established UT designs by simply matching them, we would have always been playing catch-up. Instead, in 1999, we chose to lead through innovation. We wanted customers to choose us because we brought something en-

Redefined Marine Engineering tirely new to the table.”

To realize this vision, Ulstein initiated a workshop in 2003 with the Oslo-based agency Abry Design. Choos- ing a team with no maritime background was a deliberate move. Their “outsider” perspective prompted the ques- tion; “Why does the bow look like that?”—along with a series of other seemingly “dumb” inquiries that chal- lenged the status quo.

“What they did know a lot about, however, was the de- sign process itself,” said Ulstein. Through these interdis- ciplinary sessions, the designers were challenged to look beyond the industry’s traditional horizon. Following the workshops, Tore Ulstein was shown a sketch by the then 33 year old hull designer Øyvind Gjerde Kamsvåg that he found particularly intriguing. The concept was brought into the dialogue between the two teams, where it piqued their collective curiosity and challenged a century of na- val tradition.

THE VISUAL EVOLUTION OF A BREAKTHROUGH:

The Bourbon Orca, the first vessel to feature the

X-BOW® design, alongside a traditional hull pro- file. Launched in 2006, the vessel immediately piqued industry curiosity by defying a century of naval tradition.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 49