Carman Boats in Marion, Maryland USA builds commercial and pleasure boats from 16 to over 60 feet. Local and national demand for the boat builder's offerings is in the increase and Carman Boats reports that the spring of 2007 has been the busiest season ever.

In a recent interview, Ronnie Carman, owner of the facility described their line of boats. "The majority of the boats we produce that are used in the Chesapeake Bay for crabbing tend to be our 27, 32 and 36' models which use 225-350 hp diesel engines. The ocean going boats we produce are usually 46 feet or larger and typically powered with 450-600 hp diesel engines."

Ronnie began his love of boats around the age of 12 when he started building small hydroplanes. This hobby continued through high school as he designed and built several hydroplanes, enjoying them on the local waters around Crisfield Maryland.

Carman Boats had completed over 300 hulls as of Spring 2007. Their production boats are seaworthy molded designs of 16, 27, 32, 36 and 46'. In addition to those models, Carman Boats can also build custom C-Flex boats to 55'. Their largest boat to date was a 62' x 18' head boat. When commercial-fishing.org visited the facility, a boat was about to be delivered to Seward Alaska, where it will go in service in the charter boat industry. The vessel is a 36' x 13' powered with twin Cummins QSB 305 diesel engines.

Carman Boats typically installs Cummins and Volvo power in boats they produce. The first Volvo IPS system installed in a custom boat from Maryland was done by Carman's shop. The revolutionary propulsion system powered a 46' vessel. Mr. Carman reports that Cummins and Volvo power plants offer boat owners with good value. He described the Volvo D series diesels as having a reputation for being extremely fuel efficient and reliable. Another nice thing about the Volvo units is their "plug and play" electronics that makes installation very simple.

The Cummins engines also have a good reputation and offer a wide range of horsepower and torque options. Many of the commercial boat owners elect to use single or twin Cummins diesels for reliability and ease of maintenance.

What do the next few years hold in store for boat building? Carman boats expects to be building boats for commercial fishing, aquaculture, recreational fishing and charter fishing. The majority of the recreational boats will be 27-32'. Many of the charter boats, commercial fishing boats and aquaculture work boats will be 32-46'.

A gallery of Carman Boats is here .