Ship designers spliced
  from: Offshore Engineer
  Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Confirmation that the Dutch offshore vessel designer Sea of Solutions is being acquired by Norway’s Ulstein Group came early March, with both companies declaring they see plenty of positives in the move.

Bob Rietveldt, commercial director of Vlaardingen-based Sea of Solutions, says joining the long-established Ulstein Group would allow his company to grow ‘as we will be able to provide our customers with a broader scope of services’.

And Ulstein Group chief executive Gunvor Ulstein says the deal will strengthen his group in the future, with Tore Ulstein, managing director of Ulstein International, adding: ‘The Ulstein Group wants to become an attractive point of contact for major oil companies and offshore contractors in their quest for new and alternative solutions.With Sea of Solutions in the group we get a larger portfolio of products and services and greater expertise in project development.’

Both Ulstein and Sea of Solutions enjoy a solid reputation for innovative ship design concepts. ‘We see many similarities between Sea of Solutions and the Ulstein Group,’ notes Tore Ulstein. ‘As innovators, both companies have spent time learning to think outside the box with regard to design and development. It will thus be exciting to see the outcome of two such innovative companies linking up.’

Both companies hail from strong national maritime clusters: Ulstein at Sunnmøre, Norway, and Sea of Solutions in the Dutch maritime cluster, Bob Rietveldt points out. ‘Both companies experience the benefits of being part of a cluster. It boosts our competitive edge, and collaboration between companies from two different clusters will yield even greater benefits.We both operate in the offshore segment and have acquired major know-how in our respective fields of offshore expertise. Consequently, we can learn much from each other,’ he adds.

Established in 2001 and now with 12 employees, Sea of Solutions develops projects for operators, contractors and shipowners in the exploration, construction and production market, as well as the maritime transport market, providing products and services on an independent and confidential basis. Beside innovative designs for newbuild vessels, the company is actively involved in upgrade and conversion projects for existing offshore vessels (OE September 2007).

The Ulstein Group celebrated its 90th anniversary last year. The company has pioneered a number of trendsetting offshore vessels over the years, the latest being the innovative Ulstein X-Bow design (OE December 2007). The company currently has some 700 employees in eight countries.

The name of the new company will be Ulstein Sea of Solutions. OE

Turbomachinery under control

The Netherlands office of Yokogawa Europe Industrial Automation has announced the release of new Yokogawa Electric input and output (IO) modules for turbomachinery control applications. They have been introduced as part of the CENTUM VP integrated production control system.

Installed on a CENTUM VP field control station, the new IO modules provide powerful features for the high-speed control and protection of turbomachinery. According to Yokogawa, they have a highly reliable dual redundant configuration and an intermixed signal interface for handling both analog and digital data.

The IO modules come in two types. The Servo Module is designed to control turbine speed by interfacing with specific sensors and actuators to manipulate steam and fuel control valves.

The High Speed Protection Module is designed to protect the turbine from overspeed and other critical conditions by shutting steam and fuel valves.

‘With these new IO modules, CENTUM VP provides an excellent platform for the comprehensive and co-ordinated control of power plant turbines, boilers, and balance of plant facilities,’ adds Yokogawa.

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