Needs at Sea
The safety of the ship's complement depends upon your choice.
Take for example the lifeboat. Its seaworthiness, durability, strength, load capacity, buoyancy and many other factors will decide its performance in the event of an emergency.
Viking Marine, a part of WatercraftViking Ltd, is able to offer an unparalleled service for all types of glassfibre craft for commercial use but their speciality is their Viking lifeboat. Leaders in modern design and new conceptions, with over 20 years experience behind them, Viking Marine build lifeboats that meet all the requirements of the 1960 Convention for Safety of Life at Sea. Viking lifeboats are classified by prominent authorities such as the Department of Trade and Industry, Lloyd's Register of Shipping, Bureau Veritas, Marine Marchande, Norske Veritas, NSC, American Bureau of Shipping, Canadian Ship Inspection, to name a few.
We now take you to their fitting and finishing shop where you we Specialists in the manufacture of fibreglass speed-boats, sail boats, fishing boats, work boats and pram dinghies, Light Marine Service has been established for three years and now boasts of a workforce of 30 people. Its factory in Punggol besides manufacturing is well stocked with the spare parts that are essential in the course of replacing deterioration in boating. To promote the sports, Light Marine can see the production of these lifeboats which have become a distinctive species in their group. All the hulls are moulded in one piece, including the keel and gunwale. Polyurethane foam buoyancy is then moulded to the shape of the hull and oversprayed with glass-fibre insitu, thereby forming a complete and strong unit. This feature alone shows a marked saving in maintenance costs, as well as improving the boat's lifesaving qualities. Wood is used only in the pine floors and mahogany thwarts.
Resin bonded glassfibre has proved itself to be an excellent material over many years for the construction of ship's lifeboats since it does not deteriorate under constant exposure to extremes of climatic conditions, Viking lifeboats usually come standard with hulls painted white outside and orange inside, though hulls may be pigmented any colour.
A variation of the Viking lifeboat is the launch-lifeboat, type 36/142 FM. This fibreglass boat seats up to 142 as a lifeboat and when used as a launch, it has a speed of 71/2 knots when the 60 passengers are comfortably seated. The boat has the Viking built-in foam buoyancy too. Its simple layout ensures quick embarkation and the two fibreglass canopies with their big windows provide excellent protection from rains, spray or strong sunlight.
An awning can be fitted between the canopies for extra protection when necessary. Careful planning has been given to make the boat complete in every detail and standard equipment includes navigation light, searchlight, emergency tiller, embarkation steps and a heavy duty rubber fender right round the boat.
Concerned with safety too is the rescue boat specially designed in glass-fibre as an accident boat or motor boat. 26 ft in length, it has a seating of 30 persons. The boat has an excellent heavy weather performance and with an air-cooled diesel engine, a speed of 7 knots is obtainable. A cover over the forward well protects stretcher cases and the shelter can be extended to provide a wireless cabine to meet D.T.I requirements.
The boat is particularly useful for transferring stretcher cases and for contacting other vessels
— a boat which can be handled safely in weather conditions which would render hazardous the use of the traditional open lifeboat.
Ferrograph Echo Sounder
Watercraft Schat Viking Pte Ltd brings to the region too, the Ferrograph echo sounder, G500 Mk 2. Providing continuous and unambiguous graphic display of fish, sea-bed contour, wrecks, holes and marine growths, this echo sounder operates with an easily fitted transducer. It possesses an inherently high resolving power which, combined with the clarity and permanence of the dry-paper graph, makes it an extremely flexible and reliable instrument for navigation, diving and surveying, in addition to being an invaluable fishing aid. A changeover switch sets the
