Burger Boat Co. readies fisheries research ship

[Go Big Red!]

Burger Boat Co. readies fisheries research ship

Vessel for DNR gets company back into commercial work

By Nathan Phelps • For Wisconsinoutdoorfun.com • March 13, 2011

MANITOWOC — Burger Boat Co. is gearing up for the delivery of a 60-foot fisheries research vessel to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources next month.

The company has finished building the R/V Coregonus — the first time Burger Boat has produced a commercial vessel in about 48 years — and it is awaiting sea trials before delivery.

"This vessel is a reflection of where we came from," said Ron Cleveringa, Burger Boat's vice president of sales and marketing. "To diversify back into commercial work is a good, practical step forward into the future. We plan to continue with commercial projects."

In recent years, Burger Boat has specialized in yachts, but it has a long history of building boats for commercial and military use.

The Coregonus, named after fish genus including lake whitefish, lake herring and bloater chubs, replaces the Barney Devine, a research ship built nearly 75 years ago by Burger Boat.

Burger said it expects to deliver the vessel next month.

Based in Sturgeon Bay, the Coregonus is expected to work on both Lake Michigan and Lake Superior researching the commercial and sport fishing industries, the DNR said last year.

Former DNR Secretary Matt Frank said the research would be vital to the economic health of the industries. He said sport fishing alone annually generates about $420 million and sustains 5,000 jobs.

The aluminum hull Coregonus is one of two commercial projects Burger has undertaken.

The company also is building a 98-foot passenger ferry for use in Chicago.

That vessel, a steel hull, is expected to be delivered this summer.

"The passenger vessel is a return to steel construction, which opens us to further work in other commercial endeavors," Cleveringa said. "It also opens us up to steel-hull aluminum-superstructure yachts, which we get inquires for from time to time, primarily from European and eastern European clients."

All of Burger Boat's staff has been trained in working with steel construction, he said.

"We're an ever-evolving company ... and by answering the call for commercial work, when there is commercial work out there, it's just a smart thing to do — as is steel," Cleveringa said. "We're answering the market's call, essentially."

[Lee Borgersen]

MANITOWOC — Burger Boat Co. is gearing up for the delivery of a 60-foot fisheries research vessel to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources next month.



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