Idar Ulstein recognised for lifetime achievement

Idar Ulstein has won the 2010 OSJ Lifetime Achievement Award. Presentation of the honour to the chairman of Norway’s Ulstein Group recognises the contribution of outstanding significance he has made to the OSV market over his lifetime

Idar Ulstein is a well known figure in Norway and elsewhere who for many years has led the development of Ulstein Group, one of the best known shipbuilding groups in Norway.

Under his leadership the company has developed new ship concepts and more efficient ways of building vessels. It has also adopted new technology and set up an international network of sales and service offices. The company continues to build its own designs at its yard in Norway, designs that are now also built around the world.

Mr Ulstein has been one of the leading innovators in the industry in the region. He was responsible for establishing the local maritime association, Mafoss, and has played a key role in the maritime cluster in the Sunnmøre area of Norway, which has an aggregate turnover of NKr50 billion (US$8.5 billion) and nearly 20,000 employees.

Mr Ulstein was unfortunately unable to attend the event to receive his award but did address delegates via a video link. Erik Andreassen, regional director, Europe, Ulstein Design Solutions, collected the award on his behalf.

“I am humble and grateful for the award, and I wish to share it with everybody that works in or has worked in the Ulstein Group,” said Mr Ulstein. “Without them, Ulstein Group could not have evolved from the fishing vessel repair company it was in 1917 to the innovative company it is today with a focus on R&D, state-of-the-art vessels, ship designs, and power and control systems.”

“I would like to express my deeply felt gratitude for receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from OSJ,” he continued. “When my father started this company in 1917 he, of course, needed some land, and this lot of land that he bought from the farm of his mother was named Future – and that is what Ulstein has been building on, the development has always been for the future.”

“I worked on the shop floor on several occasions, right from the age of 14, when my father died. I was appointed head of design as a 27-year-old in 1962 after completing my degree as a naval architect at the University of Trondheim.

“There was a lot of discussion in the early 1990s about the future of the company, and we got a proposal from Vickers that they should take over all our equipment manufacturing companies. This happened in 1999, and shortly after, 2-3 months after that, Rolls-Royce bought Vickers. Since that time Ulstein Group has developed more than 80 designs, and 40 of them have been built with the Ulstein X-Bow, which I believe most of you have heard about already. I would like to share this award together with all our employees in the group, who have contributed to the development of the company.”

It was an advisory panel comprising well known figures from across the offshore/OSV industry which selected Mr Ulstein for the OSJ Lifetime Achievement Award. David Foxwell, Editor of OSJ, explained their choice: “It was a very difficult decision but in the end the panel chose Idar Ulstein. He has played a huge role in the OSV industry and led one of the best known shipbuilding groups in Norway for many years.”

As well as Mr Foxwell, advisory panel members include Ian Coates of Derrick Offshore Ltd, Arnstein Eknes of DNV, Borge Nakken of Farstad Shipping, Ian Giddings of IMCA, Neil Patterson of Offshore Ship Designers, Erik Haakonsholm of STX Europe and Mike Porter, events director at Riviera Maritime Media. OSJ