We spent a couple of days at Alumax Boats recently alongside Pascal Technologies, getting our side of the MSTX AirHull sorted and seeing the fully electric water taxi for Watertaxi Rotterdam take shape in aluminium.

A project like this runs on four teams in three countries being willing to sort things out in the same room rather than over email. Alumax on the build, Pascal Technologies on the automated control and propulsion, us on the hull engineering, and Watertaxi Rotterdam keeping everyone honest about what the boat actually has to do every day in the harbour.

The technically interesting part is the air layer under the hull: less hull in contact with the water, less drag, and up to 50% lower energy use at high speed compared with conventional electric propulsion. The reason it's on schedule is far less glamorous than that. People showing up and talking to each other.

Sea trials aren't far off now.