Burger Boat photo
New shipbuilding jobs are being added this fall at Manitowoc’s Burger Boat Company, which this week announced its second contract in recent months. Burger vice-president Ron Cleveringa said the firm landed a contract with to construct a 98-foot steel passenger vessel, to be named Chicago’s Classic Lady. The new boat will join a sister ship constructed by Burger in 2011.
“They’re very pleased with their current vessel, and when it came time to build another one, they came straight to Burger,” Cleveringa said. Earlier this year, Burger Boat received an order to build a 77-foot steel fisheries research craft, the Arcticus, for the U.S. Geological Survey. Cleveringa said work on both vessels will soon be underway.
“Metal has arrived already in the shipyard for that particular vessel, and we will be starting fabrication in the next week or so. Both of these vessel’s will be going concurrently.” Burger has already begun hiring, and expects to add about fifty employees as the work progresses. The additional jobs should provide a boost for the economy in Manitowoc, where the unemployment rate currently stands at 7.1 percent.
“We’re very excited with the momentum,” said Cleveringa. “It shows our continued commitment to building quality vessels whether they be yachts or commercial vessels. It just provides the momentum needed as we move forward into securing additional contracts.
Burger was founded in Manitowoc in 1863 and is a builder of pleasure yachts and commercial vessels.
Damon Ryan, WOMT