Ulsteinvik is the main town on the western side of Hareidlandet, with a population of around 6,200. It does not look like a major industrial centre, but this small town punches far above its weight in shipbuilding.
It started in 1917 when 23-year-old Martin Ulstein and his brother-in-law Andreas Flø opened a small mechanical workshop to convert local fishing boats to motor power. That workshop grew into the Ulstein Group, now a third-generation family company and one of Norway's most respected shipbuilders. In the 1950s they built their first steel ships, car ferries for the growing road network. Then came trawlers, oil supply vessels, and eventually cruise ships. Their patented X-BOW hull design, introduced in 2005, has been used on over a hundred vessels worldwide. Hurtigruten ships Polarlys and Midnatsol were built at Ulstein Verft.
A second major yard, Kleven Verft, was founded in 1939 as a blacksmith's shop and grew into a builder of sophisticated vessels including the Hurtigruten expedition ships Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen. Kleven went through bankruptcy and was taken over by Green Yard in 2020, but continues to operate.
The maritime industry shapes everything here. Related companies in engineering, electronics and automation cluster around the yards, and the annual Trebåtfestivalen in August celebrates the region's wooden boat heritage.
The Norwegian TV series Heimebane was set and filmed in Ulsteinvik. It tells the story of a top-division men's football club that hires a female coach, inspired by the real club Hødd which plays here.
It started in 1917 when 23-year-old Martin Ulstein and his brother-in-law Andreas Flø opened a small mechanical workshop to convert local fishing boats to motor power. That workshop grew into the Ulstein Group, now a third-generation family company and one of Norway's most respected shipbuilders. In the 1950s they built their first steel ships, car ferries for the growing road network. Then came trawlers, oil supply vessels, and eventually cruise ships. Their patented X-BOW hull design, introduced in 2005, has been used on over a hundred vessels worldwide. Hurtigruten ships Polarlys and Midnatsol were built at Ulstein Verft.
A second major yard, Kleven Verft, was founded in 1939 as a blacksmith's shop and grew into a builder of sophisticated vessels including the Hurtigruten expedition ships Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen. Kleven went through bankruptcy and was taken over by Green Yard in 2020, but continues to operate.
The maritime industry shapes everything here. Related companies in engineering, electronics and automation cluster around the yards, and the annual Trebåtfestivalen in August celebrates the region's wooden boat heritage.
The Norwegian TV series Heimebane was set and filmed in Ulsteinvik. It tells the story of a top-division men's football club that hires a female coach, inspired by the real club Hødd which plays here.