Southern Illinois Transfer announces the new construction of a retractable pilothouse vessel at Kaskaskia Shipyard, Inc. powered by two Mitsubishi diesel propulsion engines, supplied by Laborde Products.

The vessel will be powered by a pair of Mitsubishi S6R2-Y3MPTAW Tier 3 diesel marine engines rated at 803 hp at 1,400 rpm each. Additionally, this is the first build where Laborde supplied Mitsubishi engines will be coupled to Veth Z-drives. 

“We are excited about building our first Mitsubishi powered boat, and will be building a second vessel with the Mitsubishi’s following the completion of this one. Our extensive experience with large displacement and slower turning engines like EMD’s on the locomotive side of our business, really attracted us to the Mitsubishi S6R2, not to mention we really like the fact that they are mechanical and we can work on them ourselves,” says Kurt Johnson, President of Southern Illinois Transfer. 

“Laborde Products is excited about the growing partnership with Kurt and the whole SIT team, and providing a fully mechanical solution to their fleet,” says Trace Laborde, Vice President of Sales at Laborde Products.

Laborde Products is a commercial engine distributor, committed to improving the operating experience for every operator by providing simple power solutions in an increasingly complex operating environment. We are dedicated to empowering our operators with the training, tools, and support to eliminate downtime and optimize the operating experience throughout the life of our engines.