Ulstein designs research vessel for Korea’s KIGAM
Written by Nick Blenkey
The X-Bow hull line design leads to reduction in slamming and vibrations and makes the vessel well suited for research operations.
Norway’s Ulstein Group has entered into an agreement that will see Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction build an Ulstein SX134 design research vessel for the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM).
The vessel will be 92 meters long and 21 meters wide and fulfill the general demands of the seismic and oceanographic research industry for operations of seismic streamer cables, seismic bottom nodes, seismic high-resolution seafloor mapping, seafloor survey and sediment sampling.
It will function as a base for up to 30 researchers, and will also carry a crew of up to 20 people.
The vessel’s X-Bow hull line design leads to reduction in slamming and vibrations which makes it very suited for research operations. This design increases the operability of the vessel, reduces speed loss and will have an improved effect on recording of data when in operation. The design with its modern technology ensures efficient operations with less fuel consumption and less environmental footprint.
The X-Bow hull line design leads to reduction in slamming and vibrations which makes it well suited for research operations as well as improving comfort on board.
The research vessel has been designed to include a variety of installed equipment, such as a 3D/4D seismic 8-streamer system, high resolution 2D/3D seismic P-cable system, a multicomponent OBN acquisition system, a marine gravity and magnetic system, multibeam and single beam echosounders and auxiliary equipment for in sea acoustic sounding systems. It will also incorporate a deep sea chirp sub-bottom profiler, an acoustic doppler current profiler (adcp) and a high profile underwater positioning system. Sediment samplers and geochemical analysis equipment will also available for the on-board researchers.
In 1996, Ulstein’ s own shipyard Ulstein Verft delivered the research vessel Tamhae II to KIGAM.
“Ulstein is very proud to be awarded this contract with Hanjin and the fact that KIGAM again is selecting Ulstein as their supplier of design for their new vessel is important for us and confirms that our focus on optimization of design, cost effective solutions, quality and the Owner’s operational & functional requirements; have given results,” says Lars Ståle Skoge, Commercial Director at Ulstein Design & Solutions AS.
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