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EDITOR’S NOTE he end of one era typically signals the start of another. And, so it is with the business of building naval and municipal patrol boats, where the demand for smaller, more agile and

T versatile hulls has skyrocketed. At the same time, and as governments everywhere come to the realization that for the 600’ warship, if it hasn’t ended altogether, its utility in a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape is on the wane. If true, then that’s good news indeed for scores of smaller North American shipyards.

Myriad hotspots worldwide, along with more sedate but equally important municipal and homeland security missions; have all kept the patrol craft markets – here and across the big pond – humming along in the past 18 months. As the use of autonomous, remote controlled attack craft threaten both commercial shipping and large naval vessels alike, the need for fast littoral [email protected] craft has never been greater. This serious discussion also beckons to speci? c American builders, who, unlike their blue water, deep draft building cousins, have demonstrated the ability to com- pete (globally) in this sector; across the broad spectrum of price, quality, and after market service.

One such builder is United States Marine, Inc. (USMI), a ? rm which this year celebrates 35 years of continuous service. Along the way, they’ve delivered more than 750 craft, 270 alone for U.S. military and foreign navies. Some of these sales are highly classi? ed, many emanating through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, spanning dozens of nations. Along the way,

USMI CEO and President Barry Dreyfus, Jr has always paid close attention to the three core values that brought them here: Family, Integrity and Quality. A fascinating look at this Ameri- can success story begins on page 38.

This month, ‘success’ spans the gamut of the shallow draft, brown water sectors. Nowhere is that success more apparent than for the Port of Virginia and its rapidly growing inland intermodal hub, the Richmond Marine Terminal. Here, the local container-on-barge service has, over time, removed tens of thousands of trucks from the Commonwealth’s heavily congested I-64 corridor.

From a nadir of less than 150 boxes in 2008 to a projected throughput of more than 34,000

TEU’s in 2019, this shortsea initiative is yielding fruit. None of that is possible without a reliable container crane and Richmond has certainly checked that ‘box.’ The story begins on page 42.

Turning back once again to our small, agile, shallow draft littoral patrol craft, perhaps the most signi? cant development in this sector since the demise of the 600 foot warship is the ad- vent of diesel outboard propulsion. The obvious advantage to this development – and arguably its most important – is the aspect of safety when it comes to the change in fuel. But, that alone won’t make diesel suitable for the most demanding special missions. To that end, this month, we take a hard look at not one, but two entries in this market. What we found out is de? nitely a ‘page turner.’ That’s your cue to do just that.

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Joseph Keefe, Editor, [email protected]

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June 2019 6 MN