Bering Steel Expedition Yachts

In 2007, Bering Yachts slipped quietly onto the scene with a 55' steel hull trawler, filling a much overlooked niche for a custom, long range, steel-based trawler in a size sector dominated by production boats. From that first splash, they've been logging miles and building credibility ever since.

Recently, Bering expanded their range to deliver a line of head-turning, go-anywhere displacement hull cruisers with solid CFD engineering, heavy metal construction and a systems integration plan that is direct & accessible.

Today, the Bering Yachts line ranges in size from 50 to 95 feet and is offered in three lines: Expedition, Explorer, and Yachtship. Some models are capable of crossing any ocean with a shorthanded crew of two. Indeed, Bering Yachts prides itself on designing, engineering, and building yachts that can go anywhere and do anything without a large crew or complicated systems.

Welcome to the forum! Thanks for posting some interesting pictures. Always fun to see new builders ideas and hear about different design concepts.

Ted

I have been following Bering Yachts since the beginning. I love the concept of steel yachts,,, & photo 8 of 9 is my favorite. I'm looking forward to stepping onto one of these yachts one day.

Great looking boats at a competitive price as best I understand. Being steel there is always the question as to how thoroughly the hull and attachments have been prepped, painted and treated. Per chance you could post the painting schedule and spec applicable to the build process. Where are these vessels built?

Thanks

Welcome.

Great looking boats.

I've been admiring your vessels since I learned of them a few years ago, but still know very little about them. I'm looking forward to learning more about their construction. Love the style.

sunchaser said:

Great looking boats at a competitive price as best I understand. Being steel there is always the question as to how thoroughly the hull and attachments have been prepped, painted and treated. Per chance you could post the painting schedule and spec applicable to the build process. Where are these vessels built?

Thanks

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Here you will find the answer to your question...

Steel Trawler Yacht | Semi-Custom Steel Expedition Yachts | Steel Trawler

(scroll mouse over "Company" then click on "History")

sunchaser said:

Great looking boats at a competitive price as best I understand. Being steel there is always the question as to how thoroughly the hull and attachments have been prepped, painted and treated. Per chance you could post the painting schedule and spec applicable to the build process. Where are these vessels built?

Thanks

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Hi there!

All Bering vessels are built in Zhangjiang, China and Antalya, Turkey.
We currently have three boats under construction: Bering 70, Bering 77 and Bering 80.

Regarding our construction approach, all the interior steel surfaces of the vessel are treated with epoxy primer after thorough surface preparation. Additionally the use of steel allows tremendous flexibility with the placement of interior bulkheads, thereby providing a great deal of customization with the floor plan. We also offer 10 years hull warranty.

healhustler said:

I've been admiring your vessels since I learned of them a few years ago, but still know very little about them. I'm looking forward to learning more about their construction. Love the style.

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Thank you very much. You can read more about our construction approach on our website. I've also shared a few photos with boats in construction on my profile, here on the forum.

Nice boat but it is not the initial hull paint job that counts to a steel boats longevity ,

it is the ease with which the hull can be blasted "water white" after the first decade or two of service..

A vessel of this cost will be in use for decades , perhaps 5 or more internal paint jobs.

The boat is Definiatly worth buying a lottery ticket for!!

Greetings,
Welcome aboard.

I have been watching these boats. There were one or two on the secondary market last year at a decent price - don't know if they still are.

Check out Pacific Motor Yachts Watson Line. NZ built steel vessels with an informative website that includes a wonderful tutorial on hull design.

Located near Dashew's Circa build site in Whangarei NZ.

Based on what I know about Watson boats I wouldn't consider them for a new build. A former Nordhavn 55 owner who is now a current Diesel Duck 462 owner went through hell with his Watson 72 build and if my memory serves me correctly it ended up in a huge lawsuit.

Note: Why someone would try to hijack a thread from a builder by suggesting another builder is just plain wrong in my book. Just Sayin'

Boards are to share information , good and bad., or they have no use like a magazine .

Diesel Duck 492 said:

Based on what I know about Watson boats I wouldn't consider them for a new build. A former Nordhavn 55 owner who is now a current Diesel Duck 462 owner went through hell with his Watson 72 build and if my memory serves me correctly it ended up in a huge lawsuit. '

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Wasn't this the case where progress payments and exchange rates became litigious?

FF said:

Boards are to share information , good and bad., or they have no use like a magazine .

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No one is saying not to post it on the board. Diesel Duck is simply saying not to hijack threads regarding one boat brand for another. If Watson doesn't have a forum section or thread, I'd suggest they start one. This is in the builder's forums section and I think that section is designed to create separate sections for each builder.

BandB said:

If Watson doesn't have a forum section or thread, I'd suggest they start one. .

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PIcky picky. Bering does not have a builders forum section. Even if they did a quick look at the builders forum section shows all sorts of thread hijacking and boat bashing as so apparently bothers some. My comments regarding Bering were quite positive and will remain so.

Watson suffered as the NZ dollar rose against the US dollar a few years ago. The exchange rate has now turned and it will be interesting to see if they can get some traction from that. But, they do build to a high set of ISO standards. Bering's smaller vessels seem better thought out than some unmentioned 50 footer steel vessels I've been on.

there is a 55 on yachtworld that has been for sale for a long time.The pictures are nice,the price is very good,yet it hasn't sold.Any opinions why?The only thing I noticed was that the stack is right in the middle of the flybridge seating.Not a very good design in my opinion,also doesn't lend itself to a bimini,which kind of make s the flybridge useless in the warmer climates.

tinped said:

there is a 55 on yachtworld that has been for sale for a long time.The pictures are nice,the price is very good,yet it hasn't sold.Any opinions why?The only thing I noticed was that the stack is right in the middle of the flybridge seating.Not a very good design in my opinion,also doesn't lend itself to a bimini,which kind of make s the flybridge useless in the warmer climates.

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I agree with the difficulty of cover on the bridge, although it is possible, just not as easy as you'd like.

However, I think the reason it hasn't sold is the lack of marketing and lack of market penetration by the builder combined with it being located in Maine. Most people in the US have never seen a Bering, much less been on one. They know nothing about the boat or company which makes selling a used one the same as selling a one off. As to the location, not exactly the hot bed of boat sales, not where people flock to look at and buy boats.

Bering is one of many companies to build a very few boats (I believe they've delivered 5 worldwide) but not take the big step to build a preference. If I owned the company and wanted to sell in the US, then I'd set up a Fort Lauderdale and a Seattle office and build two boats for each location. I'd do the same in strategic locations elsewhere in the world. Which comes first, the boat or the order? In a new, relatively unknown brand, it's the boat. People are not going to buy simply based on what they can see on paper or the web.

What you're doing on the new market absolutely impacts any used boats of your brand.

tinped said:

there is a 55 on yachtworld that has been for sale for a long time.The pictures are nice,the price is very good,yet it hasn't sold.Any opinions why?The only thing I noticed was that the stack is right in the middle of the flybridge seating.Not a very good design in my opinion,also doesn't lend itself to a bimini,which kind of make s the flybridge useless in the warmer climates.

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Nine months ago a 2008 Bering 55 was discussed in a 2 page TF thread. The usual (correct?) comments on Chinese built steel vessels emanated. The newer builds are not from China as best I understand.

Judy Waldman is the importer and listed the 2008.

sunchaser said:

Nine months ago a 2008 Bering 55 was discussed in a 2 page TF thread. The usual (correct?) comments on Chinese built steel vessels emanated. The newer builds are not from China as best I understand.

Judy Waldman is the importer and listed the 2008.

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They build in China and in Turkey. I don't know what they're building where at this point.

In the end another alternative to Nordhaven and in steel construction. The issue I see is that the NH line has established a brand and continues to build on it with major advertising thus adding resale value to their line. The competing builders have a lot of catch up to do and the buyer interested in protecting their investment may well be wise to go with the flow. NH boats are not my kind of boat but I do recognize what the company and its branding has established. I am personally well aware of the financial risk of buying a custom off the beaten path boat and expect that buying a large low volume semi custom boat like a Bering has some similar risk. There of course will always be individuals who will gamble or don't care about the risk myself included in that category.

Precisely Ed.

With all of the obstacles involved in introducing a new ship building company I think Bering is moving in the right direction. For example; Jeff Merrill, former long time Nordhavn salesman, is now representing and is collaborating with the Bering team to produce high quality steel vessels. Another example of Bering doing everything they can to build a high quality boat is evidenced by the fact they reached out to Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting Inc. (who as we all know is an extremely well respected marine industry expert) for his marine consulting on their line of boats.

Homepage - Jeff Merrill Yacht Sales +1 949.355.4950 (scroll down to bottom of home page)

Diesel Duck 492 said:

With all of the obstacles involved in introducing a new ship building company I think Bering is moving in the right direction. For example; Jeff Merrill, former long time Nordhavn salesman, is now representing and is collaborating with the Bering team to produce high quality steel vessels.

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I would like to share your optimism. However, I'm afraid I can't call them a boat building company yet, more like hobbyists. They're not new. 5 boats in 8 years calls for some serious changes in one's approach. I don't know the level of Jeff's involvement.

I know the owners have other interests they're spending time on so have no idea how much time they're spending on Bering. They need an industry pro guiding and directing the company full time.

Do understand that I'm not saying anything here that I haven't relayed to members of their team privately. I do believe Bering could be a very successful boat and take a position in the market.

As to quality in China or Turkey, I believe you can achieve very good quality and there are builders proving that.

The Bering 55 listed on Yachtworld is referring to a new built boat.
The photos for the listing are of the first B55, which was sold last year to an Australian couple. They've just completed 3000 Nm from Singapore to Perth, Australia in 3 weeks. They also decided to add a new bimini top to the boat.

We are building Bering 77 and Bering 80 in China
Bering 70 and newly started Bering 65, hull #3 in Turkey.

Bering Yachts said:

The Bering 55 listed on Yachtworld is referring to a new built boat.

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You're telling us the 2008 model shown in Falmouth, ME is for a new boat? I don't think so or it wouldn't read as follows:

Bargain price for a lightly cruised fully equipped, proven trawler! Recent refurbishing and improvements Summer 2015.

Spacious, well equipped, and economical, the Bering 55 is meant for long-range cruising.

The owners are experienced cruisers having previously owned a 65' Cape Horn Trawler. They flew to China to survey and sea trial this vessel before purchase. Having shipped the yacht to Florida and cruised her to Maine, back to Florida and then mid-Atlantic, the owners have retired from cruising and have offered M/V Anjumal seriously for sale.​

So, no, it is not a new boat. Neither is the 2013 60' model. It has 500-600 hours on it and has been owned by two years. Only the listing for the 2015 65' is for a new boat.

I don't know where you got your erroneous information, Deniza.

BandB said:

You're telling us the 2008 model shown in Falmouth, ME is for a new boat? I don't think so or it wouldn't read as follows:

Bargain price for a lightly cruised fully equipped, proven trawler! Recent refurbishing and improvements Summer 2015.

Spacious, well equipped, and economical, the Bering 55 is meant for long-range cruising.

The owners are experienced cruisers having previously owned a 65' Cape Horn Trawler. They flew to China to survey and sea trial this vessel before purchase. Having shipped the yacht to Florida and cruised her to Maine, back to Florida and then mid-Atlantic, the owners have retired from cruising and have offered M/V Anjumal seriously for sale.​

So, no, it is not a new boat. Neither is the 2013 60' model. It has 500-600 hours on it and has been owned by two years. Only the listing for the 2015 65' is for a new boat.

I don't know where you got your erroneous information, Deniza.

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The two Bering 55's that I see on YW are both 2016 models with no mention of the items you list in your post.

Here is the link that I found for the Bering 55 on YW:


Bering 55 boats for sale - YachtWorld

Me thinks you are referring to one ad and Bering Yachts is referring to the ads I found by googling "Bering 55 for sale".