Top 40 Under 20: Aus Ships founder Tommy Ericson, 38

He’s “not quite a viking”, but this Brisbane boat builder is staying true to his seafaring Scandanavian roots by creating spectacular vessels for the super rich and famous.

The son of Scandinavian immigrants, Tommy Ericson, 38, grew up around pleasure craft on Moreton Bay before studying naval engineering and founding Murarrie-based boat builders Aus Ships in 2011.

“I suppose being the son of Scandinavians gave me an affinity with the sea, but I’m not quite a Viking,” jokes the 38-year-old, who has expanded Aus Ships into a $10 million business whose boats now ply waters as far afield as the Thames in London.

Aus Ships’ order book is looking increasingly healthy, helped by a lower dollar, buoyant tourism and increased interest in cruising by the world’s super rich.

Ericson and his team have already built three vessels for the Hayman Island resort with another two on the drawing board.

Tommy Ericson from Aus Ships at his company's HQ at Murarrie. Picture: AAP/Attila Csaszar

For Queensland’s boat building industry, the largest in Australia, the increased activity is welcome news after some tough years.

Ericson says a key strength of his company is that it is a “one-stop shop” doing everything from “designing the vessel to delivery of the finished product”.

But building boats from the ground up is not the only game in town.

Ericson says between 20 and 40 per cent of the business is now refit and conversion, particularly of superyachts for rich-listers.

Aus Ships has just completed a refit of a so-called shadow yacht, the name for a yacht that follows the main superyacht around the world’s maritime playgrounds equipped with “toys” such as helicopters, submarines and jet skis.

“This is a market that wasn’t around 10 years ago but we do good work in Australia and it has been helped by the lower dollar.”