The concept of the triangular-shaped hull form with an extraordinary wide stern, developed by Roar Ramde and originally adopted for Norwegian Navy surveillance ships. With an exclusive license to the design, Petroleum Geo-Services went to use it for a series of seismic survey vessels. The first went into service in 1995. In 1998, the120m long RAMFORM BANFF was built by the Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Mipo.
The maximum beam, equivalent to half of its length, is at the transom, giving the vessel its shape. The broad transom allows for efficient seismic equipment handling and provides for a large working area both on the aft deck and in the instrument room. The Ramformtype hull has good motion characteristics, even in rough weather, accelerations at the stern of the ship are modest.
