Page 51: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Jan/Feb 2026)

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Photos on this page: Josefne Spiro/JoDa Media

LEADING THROUGH

INNOVATION:

Tore Ulstein outlines the three non-negotiable criteria for maintaining a creative edge: competence (knowing something), drive (wanting something), and permission (being allowed).

Chair of the Board

Tore Ulstein and Head of

Communications

Tonje Øyehaug Ruud discuss the collaborative culture that fostered the

X-BOW® revolution. on YouTube in 2007. A mobile phone video, flmed from NOK—a commitment that included several years of losses the bridge of a supply ship in the rough North Sea, cap- as the company pushed into new markets. While a massive tures the contrast: As a traditional vessel hammers against sum, it eventually led to the successful export of Ulstein the waves—crashing into the water, forced to slow down designs into new segments, ranging from offshore wind and signifcantly—the Bourbon Orca appears in the frame. It cable-laying vessels to expedition cruise ships and yachts.

glides through the swells without the characteristic slam- "Having leadership and owners who provide the room ming, effortlessly passing the conventional ship. and security to experiment and 'play’ a little' is crucial,"

Ulstein added. "Such a turnaround would be almost im- possible in an organization governed by short-term corpo-

RESILIENCE & PIVOT

Since 1999, Ulstein Design & Solutions has delivered 169 rate thinking and quarterly results." designs. This portfolio includes 122 vessels featuring the By 2024, the strategy bore fruit as Ulstein Group re- original X-BOW, a number that rises to 132 when including turned to proftability.

its successors, the X-STERN and TWIN X-STERN.

But the journey was not always smooth. When the oil

THE ART OF STIMULATING CREATIVITY crisis hit in 2015, the maritime landscape was devastated; How does Ulstein maintain this creative edge? The many large, publicly listed companies went bankrupt or chairman points to three non-negotiable criteria: you must were forcibly merged with more fnancially stable players. know something (competence), you must want something

Ulstein refected on the choice they faced as a family-owned (drive), and you must be allowed (permission).

company when the market suddenly vanished. "We could “You need the competence and the inner drive, but the have closed down, right? We could have said we're done. But deciding factor is having owners who give you the space to instead, we chose to invest in fnding new markets." experiment,” he explained. He describes this as a balance

This strategic pivot involved a staggering 1.2 billion between Yin and Yang—structure for productivity, but

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 51