I have tried over and over and I cant get any ships going. I build so the viking gives me the option to build the shipyard. I then click on the "start expedition" button.. but nothing ever happens. I have heard there are some bugs with ships (as this forum says too).. but I have tried at leat 10 times now. Does the shipyard need some specfic stuff in it before the ships start building? I was undre the assumption you needed Stone, wood and a builder. How much? no idea but have 100+ of both stone and wood in my ship building and still nothing.

did you switch from rowboats to ships in the shipyard?
is the shipyard manned, builder isn't the same as shipbuilder, you need a hammer and a settler to get one?

i think you actually have to have at least one ship before the start expedition even starts to work

could be a bug too, i dunno since i haven't had problems with shipbuilding or expeditions