Back at it - Building a better boat every day
by Viking Yachts 4 Jan 2023 19:27 UTC
A team transports the enclosed bridge for one of our Viking 90s, guiding the structure down the line utilizing an overhead rail system © Viking Yachts
After a much-deserved holiday break, our shipwrights are back at it, building a better boat every day as we head into 2023.
The amount of work that gets done every day at Viking is incredible, with five lines manufacturing 30 different models at our New Gretna, New Jersey, plant. It's an exciting, action-packed place that sometimes is referred to as Disneyland for boat lovers.
Above: A team transports the enclosed bridge for one of our Viking 90s, guiding the structure down the line utilizing an overhead rail system.
Above: Vice President of Manufacturing Al Uhl watches (through his office's glass wall), the enclosed bridge move to its final destination — the top of the 90's deckhouse. (Al has been on the job at Viking for 45 years.)
Above: The enclosed bridge will be secured to the deckhouse with through bolts and urethane adhesive bonding. This boat will also receive a sky bridge.
Above: Line 2 Mechanical Installer Wayne Moya uses an overhead electric hoist to transport a Seakeeper 26 into a Viking 68.
Above: A short time later, Jesus Rivera flies in the forward port stateroom module. The interior accommodation units are built outside of the yacht, which enhances productivity as the build continues.
Teamwork: Mechanical Department Foreman Bill Langel, a 24-year Viking veteran, and Line 4 Mechanical Leadman Jhovanny Ramos review the installation of a Seakeeper in a 54 Convertible. In the midst of a major manufacturing ramp-up, we now have more than 1,300 boatbuilders working at our New Gretna location, with another 225 at Viking Mullica.
Jhovanny works with Mechanical Installers Antonio Romero (dark shirt) and Ricardo Nunez, lowering the first of two generators in the same 54. The unit will be bolted to a custom white powder-coated stainless steel mounting frame fabricated in our Metal Shop. Over 90 percent of every Viking is built in-house.
Last year, Viking began building the new Valhalla Boatworks V-55 in New Gretna, adding a fifth manufacturing line.
Above: In Viglass, our Fiberglass Department, the deck liner for a Valhalla 55 is resin-infused.
Above: Also in Viglass, dry materials are loaded into the mold for the structural stringer grid for a V-55 prior to its infusion process. Like every Viking, our Valhallas are built with materials and methods that maximize strength, weight savings and build efficiency.
Shipwrights on Line 2 prepare to lower the deckhouse onto a 68 Convertible. This particular boat will later receive an enclosed bridge. Our hull-to-deck joints are through-bolted every three inches and fiberglassed from the inside - a tried-and-true Viking boatbuilding procedure.