Page 51: of Marine News Magazine (November 2025)

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The well-designed helm puts full control of the boat at the ? ngertips – literally – of Captain Jim Weber.

Image courtesy Greg Trauthwein tributor of MTU, Volvo, and ZF products. “That gives us supply-chain leverage and lifecycle support from the inside out,” Mahler said.

Breaking Into the U.S. Market

Despite formidable U.S. competition and regulatory complexity, Mahler sees opportunity. “We’ve now got two vessels operating in the U.S.,” he said. “The ? rst has logged over 21,000 hours — essentially one of every three hours for eight years straight. That speaks volumes for reliability.”

He credits Baltic’s engineering standards for the appeal. “We build to international class rules, not ABYC small- craft standards. It’s an apples-to-oranges comparison in de- sign, safety, and longevity. Anyone who’s spent time aboard our boats can feel the difference immediately.”

From Weber’s perspective, when he started the process he was clear: “We waned to ’buy American’, but in this case we could not, citing considerable price differences and the ability to deliver in a timely fashion. “Very few [U.S.] boatbuilders were even interested to talk to us ... they were note interested to build a single, one-and-done boat,” said

Weber. With that, after the contract was signed and Weber made three trips to Estonia to visit with the yard and check on the progress, less than a year later the boat splashed from the deck of a cargo ship into New York waters.

For Weber, the design and build story is personal. “This boat is the island’s lifeline,” he said. “It’s not a luxury — it’s es- sential infrastructure. Now, no matter the weather, we can go.”

From a single-island logistics run to a demonstration of Baltic Workboats’ precision engineering, the CARGO 17WP represents what happens when a builder listens, adapts, and delivers.

“They built it, they support it, and they stand behind it,”

Weber concluded. “That’s all you can ask for — and more.”