January 17, 2020 — Lars Vinjerud II can’t stop growing his fisheries and seafood business.
“I’m lucky,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of good people working for me.”
Vinjerud’s company, Fleet Fisheries in New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A., has 14 boats in the scallop, lobster, and longline fisheries, and branches in seafood marketing, a machine shop, and more boats scheduled for construction.
Read the full story from National Fisherman at Seafood Source
December 23, 2019 — Lars Vinjerud II can’t stop growing his fisheries and seafood business. “I’m lucky,” he says. “I’ve got a lot of good people working for me.”
Vinjerud’s company Fleet Fisheries in New Bedford, Mass., has 14 boats in the scallop, lobster and longline fisheries, and branches in the seafood marketing, a machine shop and more boats scheduled for construction. “Ya just keep rolling,” he says.
Vinjerud’s newest contribution to the New Bedford waterfront is the Viking Power, a vessel that is definitely outside the box. The Viking Power is 106 feet long, has a beam of 30 feet and draws around 14 feet, and catches the eye immediately because of its unique bow shape, which slants down forward into the water.
“I’ve been drawing this boat for 20 years,” says Vinjerud. “I took the design to Williams Fabrication [in Bayou La Batre, Ala.]and we took it to a company called C. Fly Marine. And they modeled it going 6 or 8 knots in 15-foot seas.” According to Vinjerud, the bow cuts through waves and reduces the motion of the vessel, giving the crew a safer more comfortable work platform.
“I call it the positive energy bow,” says Vinjerud. “Like how in judo you use the other person’s energy in your favor.”
October 4, 2019 — When you see the new fishing vessel Viking Power, you’ll know it.
Due to arrive in New Bedford in early November, the unusual-looking scalloper has a hull that slopes outward at the bow. Just below the water line, it comes to a rounded point, like the nose of rocket.
Fleet Fisheries owner Lars Vinjerud II commissioned the boat. He said the aerodynamic shape serves two goals: to make the boat more fuel efficient, and to make it more comfortable and safer for the crew. The boat should do less pitching in rough seas.
“The waves are supposed to roll up and roll off,” he said.
Vinjerud designed the boat in concert with an Alabama shipyard, Williams Fabrication, which built the boat in Bayou La Batre, Alabama — the same harbor where the fictional Forrest Gump landed shrimp.