These warnings were shown to be baseless.

'The new Ulstein AX104 with its Ulstein X-Bow from Ulstein Design AS has no bulb, and has a slender, characteristic bow design with an inverted flare, in other words the bow slopes backwards instead of forwards. The intention is that this should result in less loss of speed when it is moving in seas. It is an interesting idea, and we have followed the model closely through still water tests and tests with various wave heights and speeds, said the project manager at Marintek, Magnus Tvete. 'The vessel will also be one of the first anchor handling vessels in the world with diesel electric propulsion.'

Tvete was positively surprised by the tests with the model, saying, 'I thought the hull design would result in some spray, but in fact the shape resulted in very good carrying. The resistance level was relatively low compared with conventional designs at the gauges that were tested. This is probably due to the gentle entry angles into the waterline'.

'Some of the most common accidents that occur on offshore vessels involve the sea breaking the wheelhouse's windows.

This happens because ordinary, traditional hull shapes throw the sea forwards and upwards and the hull dives deeper, said Tvete.

'Prior to the tests on the Ulstein AX104 model, we thought that the wheelhouse windows could also be smashed with this vessel, due to the fact that shape of the bow of the Ulstein X-Bow means that no slamming occurs. Without the warning slamming gives, I thought a captain could easily run too fast and the sea would therefore be able to creep up the side of the vessel and smash in the wheelhouse windows. The tests on the model however showed that almost no sea came up onto the bridge deck at all, even in extreme weather conditions with six metres significant wave height and a wave period of nine seconds.

Under these conditions, the model maintained a good service speed.'

Reduced accelerations and retardations means higher average speeds in seas, which reduces the need for power and fuel consumption. This also results in a significantly improved working environment onboard.

Safety during navigation will be better, and noise and vibrations will be strongly reduced, and thus comfort will increase.

MJ Information No: 20741