Editor’s Note

Big, impactful changes are in motion across the workboat market. In recent weeks we’ve seen propellers start to spin for autonomous vessel projects, the U.S.’ fi rst operational newbuild all-electric passenger ferries and new plans for vessels to service America’s budding offshore wind industry.

These groundbreaking projects and countless others underway or in development demonstrate that the U.S. workboat industry is fi lled with passionate people who are determined to innovate and explore new waters. One person pushing to innovate within the sector’s technology landscape is Twin Disc’s CEO, John Batten, who is among those driving the evolution toward vessel hybridization and electrifi cation.

This transition, which is expected to herald a new fl eet of more effi cient and environmentally friendly working vessels, will be a true game-changer. “I can’t tell you another time in my career when applications are more interesting and intellectually stimulating than right now,” Batten said while discussing the rise of hybrid and electric propulsion technologies in this month’s Insights interview. “I feel like it’s been 25 years in the making for me to get to this point where the industry will start to change dramatically in the next few years. There’s no doubt about it. And I don’t think that’s happened in the previous 60 years.”

While major technological shakeups often require diffi cult industry adjustments, they also hold the potential to deliver new business opportunities, improved bottom lines and safety and effi ciency gains—something for everyone.

And perhaps just as important these days, in the strange and eventful year that 2020 has been, dramatic change is certainly something to look forward to.

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iPhone & Android Eric Haun, Editor, haun@marinelink.com