Ulstein takes strong position in cruise design

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Ulstein has found highly competent and experienced expedition cruise customers in Lindblad and SunStone, with whom they have good and constructive co-operation. “This creates the foundation for an important learning experience,” says Tore Ulstein.

With 12 contracts including options on expedition cruise vessels in three years, we have now consolidated a strong position as expedition cruise designers,” he states.

Vessels for smoother expeditions

The X-BOW® hull line design is a feature that makes Ulstein vessels stand out from the crowd. The X-BOW® splits the waves and removes the slamming and associated vibrations, increasing comfort for passengers and crew. And because it uses less fuel to get through the waves, it also helps to save energy and reduce emissions.

Reduced accelerations and slamming forces mean less wear and tear on equipment, creating a perfect platform for an expedition cruise. Even in tough conditions the X-BOW® creates little spray, leaving the decks dry.

The vessel will have more capacity in the upper bow area, space which can be used for observation lounges, bars and other leisure areas.

Keeping time tables

Some stretches of water, such as the Drake passage, can be challenging. With the X-BOW®, the journey is smoother. There is lesser need to reduce speed, and time tables will be more easily kept, still keeping the conditions comfortable on board.

Conscious expeditions

Lars Ståle Skoge is sales responsible for cruise vessels in Ulstein Design & Solutions. He says that the interest in Ulstein’s expedition cruise designs was immediate after the company published their first design illustrations.

In addition to the X-BOW®, the vessels also have a number of built-in qualities to reduce emissions and increase the operational safety.

“As an example, all Ulstein designed vessels are compliant with the latest "Safe Return to Port" regulations, which in short means that the vessel is divided in separate zones where all critical machinery and systems are duplicated in order to safely be able to return to port after an incident like flooding or fire,” Dimmen says, continuing:

“Furthermore, the vessels have controlled waste heat recovery systems from the machinery, and energy recovery from the ventilation exhaust, in order to minimise the energy consumption and thereby emissions. The power station automatically adapts to the power demand to ensure optimal operations and the vessel will not use any heavy fuel oils but operate solely on diesel and has catalytic converters or other means of exhaust gas cleaning. Vessels developed by Ulstein will improve comfort for the passengers, but our designs will also minimize the environmental footprint and make this way of travelling a greener and safer option for the future.”