Ulstein designs research vessel for KIGAM

Ulstein has entered into an agreement for construction of an Ulstein SX134 design for Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM).

The vessel will be built at Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co in South Korea and be 92m long and 21m wide. It will fulfil 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.

The newbuilding will function as a base for up to 30 researchers and will additionally accommodate a crew of up to 20. The vessel has been designed to include a variety of equipment, such as a 3D/4D seismic eight-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. Further, the vessel incorporates a deepsea chirp sub-bottom profiler, an acoustic doppler current profiler and a high-profile underwater positioning system. Sediment samplers and geochemical analysis equipment are available for the onboard researchers. 

The X-Bow® hull line design leads to reduction in slamming and vibrations which makes it very suited for research operations, Ulstein said in a statement. 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. Onboard comfort is also improved.