A quiet research boat for Grand Traverse Bay

Grand Traverse Bay has a new research boat, and it is electric. Interlochen Public Radio reported the purchase Thursday, Oct. 1, and Michigan Advance republished the story Saturday morning.

Vivian La reported that the Freshwater Research Innovation Center in Traverse City used a state grant to buy the boat last month; the grant program is meant to push the maritime industry toward clean energy. The boat is the Vita Seal, a 24-foot rigid inflatable built by Vita Power. It is docked at Discovery Pier. La wrote that, beginning next spring, students and scientists will take it out for sampling, lakebed mapping and other Great Lakes research.

Matt McDonough, CEO of Discovery Pier, told IPR the point is partly the example. “If we can promote electric boating as a viable alternative to petroleum-based motors on boats, then that’s a good thing,” he said. He said there is no exhaust and no fuel to spill, and almost no motor noise. “You’re hearing the water under the hull, but you’re not hearing the motor.”

The same story says state-backed chargers are already on the bay, at Discovery Pier and at marinas in Northport and Elk Rapids. At Elk Rapids Marina, where a charger has been in since 2023, co-owner Lewis Cooper III said most of what he sees plugged in so far is electric jet skis, not boats. Scott Canning, vice president of business development for ATV Power, which developed the research boat, told IPR the industry still has high costs and what he called range anxiety about chargers. The article notes that Michigan ranks in the top five states for boat registrations, which it ties to more than 3,000 miles of Great Lakes shoreline plus inland water.

The photograph is West Grand Traverse Bay. It is not a picture of the Vita Seal.

Sources:
Vivian La, Interlochen Public Radio, “New electric research boat creates a (quiet) splash in Grand Traverse Bay,” Oct. 1, 2026, https://www.interlochenpublicradio.org/ipr-news/2026-10-01/new-electric-research-boat-creates-a-quiet-splash-in-grand-traverse-bay
Vivian La, Interlochen Public Radio, republished by Michigan Advance, Oct. 3, 2026, https://michiganadvance.com/2026/10/03/new-electric-research-boat-creates-a-quiet-splash-in-grand-traverse-bay/
Gareth Havelock, Baird Maritime, “Michigan Great Lakes operator acquires electric RIB for research and training duties,” Sept. 23, 2026, https://www.bairdmaritime.com/work-boat-world/ribs-and-rhibs/michigan-great-lakes-operator-acquires-electric-rib-for-research-and-training-duties
Photo: Ginothewall30, “West Grand Traverse Bay, Traverse City, Michigan, USA 2014-07-12 17-56,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), cropped and color-corrected; derivative under the same ShareAlike license, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:West_Grand_Traverse_Bay,_Traverse_City,_Michigan,_USA_2014-07-12_17-56.jpg

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