This is episode one of The Current, the weekly marine industry news show for the people who keep boats running. Techs, shop owners, surveyors, fleet operators, and whoever is standing at the parts counter.

In this episode

Trade desk

• Canada's counter-tariffs take effect September 8. Rates run 15 to 50 percent across $27.6 billion of American goods. Fish and recreational boats are off the list. US-origin boat trailers take 25 percent, non-portable stoves and ranges built for boats take 25 percent, and certain iron and steel articles used to build and repair engines for commercial fishing vessels take 50 percent. NMMA flagged a wider group exposed because the tariff codes are written broadly: aluminum, steel, marine electronics, hardware and pumps, seating, lighting, refrigeration, onboard appliances, and manufacturing tooling.
• New US Section 338 tariffs catch some Canadian marine goods, including floating docks, certain vessels, and electronics.
• Express Fasteners sued in the US Court of International Trade in January, arguing Customs applied Section 232 steel tariffs to the entire value of an imported fastener instead of the steel inside it, acting on an unpublished December internal memo rather than proper rulemaking. Those tariffs hit 50 percent in June. No ruling yet.
• 55 idle container ships worldwide. Verify part lead times instead of assuming them.
• Panama Canal drought has the canal rationing daily transits and cutting maximum draft. One operator paid a record $5.3 million at auction to jump the queue for a September 1 slot, beating a $4.6 million record set earlier the same month. Ships arriving without reservations have waited up to 11 days.

Business desk

• Kadey-Krogen Yachts and American Tugs filed Chapter 7 liquidation in July, taking down both brands. Court filings show more than $1.5 million owed to the Taiwanese yard building the hulls going back to October 2024, plus $327,000 in Washington state back taxes reaching to November 2024.
• West Marine announced on August 24 that it completed its Chapter 11 restructuring. One vendor, David Kelton of American Blue Claw, was owed about $12,000 and received 6.6 percent of it, roughly $800.
• MarineMax agreed to a $1.5 billion all-cash sale involving Safe Harbor and its parent Blackstone.
• Sundance Marine in Grand Junction, Colorado changed hands this month. Vision Marine entered a letter of intent structured as a reverse takeover.
• Info-Link data through May shows new boat registrations for boats 15 feet and over running 4.3 percent below the 12-month rolling average at 213,549 across all segments. Freshwater fishing boats are the only segment up, at 1.2 percent.
• Yamaha's marine connected boat division brought Skipperi into its boat club lineup, aimed at helping dealers build recurring revenue instead of relying on unit sales.

Policy and workforce

• Senator Tim Kaine and Representative Bobby Scott toured Volvo Penta's North American headquarters in Virginia to look at how the company trains its skilled workforce. NFIB reports 32 percent of small business owners cannot fill positions and 19 percent name labor quality as their biggest problem.

Waterfront

• Northwest Marine Trade Association's Marina and Boatyard Conference runs October 6 to 8 in Washington. Early pricing ends September 1.
• Fall show season is on track: Fort Lauderdale in October, IBEX in Tampa, Miami early next year. Marine Diagnostic Tools will be at IBEX and Miami.

What it adds up to

1. Finding work will not be your problem over the next two years. The used boat wave is here and getting taller, and orphaned Kadey-Krogen and American Tug owners need surveys, maintenance lists, and repower conversations. Your constraint is throughput, not demand.
2. Counterparty risk is the real story of the month. Two builders and a national retailer ran out of runway, and the people upstream and downstream absorbed it. Pull your aging report, call anything past 60 days on a large account, read your own terms, and start taking deposits on special orders.
3. The money is moving toward the repair side. New boat sales are down across every segment, but those buyers did not leave the water. They bought used or kept what they had, and both roads end at a shop.
4. September 8 is a real deadline. Put a 30-day expiration on every quote that includes parts, and call the customers holding open estimates before the tariffs land.

Sources
Every source is linked at thecurrentshowpod.com.

About
The Current is a weekly marine industry podcast covering the news that matters to marine technicians, boat repair shops, surveyors, and fleet operators. Every Friday, host Jon Logan breaks down what moved in the marine and maritime industry, and sits down with the people shaping it. Hosted by an operator, not a journalist.

Sponsor
The Current is proudly sponsored by Marine Diagnostic Tools. Dealer-level marine engine diagnostics across every major brand, from one tool, built for independent techs and shops. Host Jon Logan is president of MDT. Visit marinediagnostictools.com to find the diagnsotic tool your shop needs to turn more boats and make more profits! 

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