While many other companies have tended to save their money during the COVID-19 pandemic and tried to minimise their expenditure, the Taiwanese in Kaohsiung invested in their shipyard. More than 30 million US dollars were channelled into their own production facility. This is located in an industrial area of Kaohsiung. Horizon is of such economic importance to the city that Yang Ming-chou, the mayor of the city with a population of 2.73 million, did not miss the opportunity to visit Horizon during the open house event.
With an investment of this magnitude in the company's own infrastructure, it goes without saying that politics must also play its part. In order to put the new five-axis CNC milling machine into operation, the yacht builders even needed permission from the Taiwanese government due to the precision with which it works. It is just one of the highlights that the shipyard proudly presents on the production site. During the visit, construction work on a new hall had not yet been fully completed. When asked about what sets the self-titled "customisation shipyard" apart, John Lu emphasises the speed with which his group completes its customers' yachts. "We can deliver models between 80 and 100 feet within a year of the order being placed," confirms the founder and CEO of the Horizon Group.
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The managing director attributes this speed of production primarily to the fact that Horizon Yachts does a lot in-house, whereas other shipyards use subcontractors. Lu attributes the fact that he can find a large number of highly qualified employees for his team to the long tradition of boatbuilding and the associated high quality of training in this sector. In the group, the Taiwanese employ over 50 engineers alone. "We usually find an in-house solution for all trades," says the Managing Director.
The FD series is a great success for Horizon Yachts
Founded in 1987, Horizon Yachts has grown to become the largest superyacht shipyard in the APAC region, currently building 27 yachts with a total length of 775 metres. This success is due in no small part to the group's enterprising founder and managing director. In total, Horizon has delivered more than 910 yachts, 250 of which are over 80 metres in length. One of the shipyard's great successes is the FD series. The yachts are the brainchild of Dutch designer Cor D. Rover and are characterised by their generous amount of space. To date, more than 70 FD yachts have been handed over to owners by Horizon. Cor D. Rover, who also travelled to Kaohsiung for the event, said of the collaboration with Lu: "I am the dreamer, John is the realist." It is also his personal challenge to package the wishes and dreams of the customers in an appealing design.
The best-selling model in the FD series is the FD90. It has already been ordered in 27 units. It is closely followed by the FD80, FD100, FD75 and FD110. The fact that the Taiwanese company's main market is in the USA can also be seen in the distribution of FD yacht owners. Over half of the units sold were destined for owners from North America, while a quarter of the formats delivered went to Australia and New Zealand. Horizon delivered the remaining 25 per cent of the model range to Europe and Asia in roughly equal proportions.
A new market that Horizon Yachts wants to enter is the refit market. To this end, John Lu and his team have invested in a powerful ship lift. The system from Pearlson Shiplift will go into operation this year. The system is 60 metres long, 13.70 metres wide and is designed to lift yachts with a displacement of up to 1800 tonnes out of the water. Lu sees the capital outlay for this as an important step towards "being able to offer maintenance, repair and refit services for ships from all over the world".
Patented vacuum infusion process
Atech Composites, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Horizon Group, has been using the vacuum infusion process since 2000. The GRP specialists have had their specially developed 6-D infusion technology patented both in Taiwan and in the USA. In the vacuum infusion process, which has now proven itself worldwide and is particularly common in yacht building, vinyl ester resin is sucked into a clearly defined laminate structure by means of a vacuum. This method offers significant advantages over traditional hand lay-up methods, particularly in terms of material properties and quality control.
The process begins with the preparation of the mould, to which a release layer is applied so that the finished part can be easily removed. The composite layers, consisting of glass or carbon fibres and, if necessary, a core material, are then precisely inserted into the negative hull mould. Finally, the laminators install an airtight film around the component to create a vacuum by means of pumps. The vinyl ester resin is stored in large barrels and is connected to the vacuum chamber via a branched hose system.
As soon as the container is opened and the resin is sucked in, the vacuum ensures that the resin is evenly distributed throughout the component. The flow process and temperature are carefully monitored to ensure that all areas of the mould are completely wetted. After infusion, the part is kept under vacuum until the resin is completely cured, which usually takes several hours. After curing, the shipyard removes the laminated hull or deck from the mould and reworks it if necessary.
Horizon Yachts' 6-D infusion process adds additional dimensions of quality control and process optimisation to conventional vacuum infusion to enable the production of extremely high-performance composite materials. The production method has already attracted the interest of German companies. Fassmer's wind power division has already been working with the Taiwanese composite experts for four years.
