The town is built on a natural harbour (in fact, the town's name means "Ulstein cove" or "Ulstein inlet"), and has an industry driven largely by shipbuilding, with two majorshipyards: Ulstein Verft and Kleven Verft.
The Ulstein Group includes the Ulstein Verft shipyard and a growing number of other marine-related companies, the largest of which are Ulstein Power & Control AS and Ulstein Design & Solutions AS. The town has dozens of other maritime-related firms of all sizes, including the global head office of Rolls-Royce plc's marine division. The strength of this industry through the middle of the first decade of the 21st century has led to significant expansion and new construction, both residential and commercial.
In 2012, Ulsteinvik was the winner of the most attractive town in Norway
