UT-Design in Rolls-Royce traces its history to a small boat repair yard on the west coast of Norway. The birth of the North Sea offshore industry was the spur for development of the business that now celebrates its 500th offshore vessel design.

Ulstein Trading - the starting point for today's UT activities - was set up in 1967 as the sales and ship design company in the then Ulstein Group. UT analysed in detail both the requirements of the emerging North Sea offshore support market and the existing fleet, talked to Norwegian owners experienced in operating fishing vessels in hard conditions, and recognised that here was the opportunity to do a better job.

The goals were a higher service speed, good sea keeping under tough North Sea conditions, and a bigger load capacity, particularly with respect to cargo carried on deck. A key requirement was that vessels should come under the 500GRT (gross register ton) mark under the existing tonnage rules, since this had a major impact on manning scales and harbour dues.

By the end of October 1973 plans and specifications had been drawn up and the UT way of thinking rapidly captured the attention of ship owners, who did not hesitate to place contracts to have vessels built at shipyards in Europe and Scandinavia.

The first UT 705 supply vessel went into service in 1974, and the first UT 704 anchor handling tug supply vessel (AHTS) in 1975.