Don’t forget your power train: maintenance, repair, and overhaul best practices

A proactive annual visual inspection of powertrain items can help a vessel owner avoid costly unexpected breakdowns and downtime.

In this episode of Maritime Today recorded live at the International Workboat Show 2025 in New Orleans, Bob Lennon, a power transmission expert with over 40 years of experience, shares his insight on the current state of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) practices in the maritime industry. Based on his experience, most vessel owners lack best practices for MRO of their powertrains. He believes visual inspections of these components, conducted annually, can coincide with engine maintenance intervals.

“I’ve been in engine rooms on tugboats where you could eat scrambled eggs off the deck plate,” said Mr Lennon. “And then I’ve been on others where you don’t want to touch anything because everything is grease covered and dirty. You look at the rotating equipment guards, and you can tell they’ve never been taken off since the boat left the shipyard.”

You can listen to the full podcast on SoundCloud or by clicking below.