Attendees at this panel session were, for the most part,
operators who are prepared to learn from land, sea, and air
users, regardless of where their turbines operate. The
technology gap between land, sea, and air applications used
to be considerable, with the most sophisticated technology
deployed on military aeroengine applications. Large com-
mercial aircraft engines, commuter aircraft engines,
land-based aeroderivative engines, and land-based indus-
trial engines followed, more or less in that order. When
there was this distinction in terms of level of sophistication,
very few gas turbines were used in marine applications. The
contemporary stakes being what they are in terms of fuel
efficiency, risk insurance, and environmental legislation
and taxes, the sophistication boundaries first blurred and
now are all but nonexistent for new installations.