The Viking name goes back a long way. The forerunners of the present company built some of the first GRP fishing boats for the Icelandic market, and company is still in the same business.
However, the current Viking designs are a long way from the original boats built back in the 1980s that established a reputation for strength and reliability. Today’s inshore fishing vessels are packed with sophisticated systems and have a carrying capacity far greater than the previous generation, as boatbuilders have responded to requirements for greater comfort and safety, more speed and higher fishing capacity.
Based in Reykjavík, Vikingbátar continues to build on the strong reputation that’s linked to the Viking name, and has been operating from its present yard since 2012 when the present owners took over production. Since then, Víkingbátar has delivered some of the most successful fishing vessels to the class of boats operating within the hook-and-line management regime, and continues to push out boundaries.
“Right now we are building the new model Vikingur BT30, which will be delivered in the summer to GPG Seafood in Húsavík,” said Vikingbátar’s sales manager Sverrir Karl Matthíasson.
The 13.80 metre Háey is a designed in collaboration with Ráðgarður Ship Consulting as a dedicated autoliner with a full shelterdeck – and is the first of a new design.
Háey isn’t a one-off, he said, commenting that over the coming eighteen months, the yard will be delivering another three 30BT longline boats to operators in Iceland.
