Page 30: of Marine News Magazine (November 2026)

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Propulsion

Caterpillar Marine

BUILT IN GRIFFIN,

PROVEN ON THE RIVER

Caterpillar’s C32B moves from a decade of engineering and a six- year ACBL ? eld trial into commercial production for an inland waterways market where uptime remains the de? ning metric.

By Greg Trauthwein alking Caterpillar’s manufacturing ? oor in cial Barge Line (ACBL) towboat, where a pair of 1,000-hp

Grif? n, Georgia, provides some perspec- C32Bs accumulated more than 33,000 operating hours tive on what sits behind a marine diesel without major work to the bottom end.

engine long before it reaches a vessel’s en- For Gary Sarrat Jr., Caterpillar Marine’s Global Segment

W gine room. The Grif? n operation is one piece of Caterpil- Team Leader for Inland Waterways and Commercial Fish- lar’s broader marine manufacturing footprint. For marine ing, the relevance of both the engine and the Grif? n opera- applications, the facility produces the C32 and C18 lines, tion comes back to one word: uptime.

as well as the C12 and C9.3. Larger 3500, 3600 and C280 “The biggest challenge for any operator, inland wa- series engines are manufactured in Lafayette, Indiana, while terway or really otherwise, is uptime,” Sarrat said during other Caterpillar marine platforms are produced in the UK Marine News’ recent visit to the facility. “Uptime is where and at regional manufacturing operations around the world. they make their money. Anytime a vessel is down for any

For the U.S. inland waterways market, however, Grif? n reason, it’s a loss of revenue and it’s a loss of revenue that’s is particularly relevant today because it is home to produc- not easily able to be recaptured later on.” tion of the C32B, Caterpillar’s latest 32-liter commercial marine engine. The engine may share a name, dimensions Building Different Engines on the Same Line and manufacturing line with its C32 predecessor, but in- One of the more interesting aspects of the Grif? n op- ternally it is a substantially different machine. eration is its manufacturing ? exibility. A C32 and C32B

It also arrives in commercial production after a long can move through the same production line alongside one proving period: six years aboard an American Commer- another despite signi? cant differences inside the engines.

30 | MN November 2026