The Empire State VII, a first of its kind training ship, at SUNY Maritime College
by the Throgsneck Bridge in the Bronx. Steve Kastenbaum/NPR
A timely and informative article.
Port and Starboard watches.
24x7xhowever long you are at sea.
Damn I miss the sea.
Warships are best. But anything with a US flag will do.
Back up the clock about 55 years & I would have given this a serious bit of consideration, even as a kid from Kansas who had never seen an ocean.
I taught at the Maine Maritime Academy for about 30 years.
The job opportunities for academy graduates-especially third engineers are excellent. Our academy has about 1000 students; at our October career fair over 100 companies showed up. Most the the seniors had interviews and job offers during the fair (assuming they graduate in May and pass “Coasties”.
Also, our academy has an excellent programs in International Business and Logistics and power engineering, and marine biology. (non-license not regiment).
Great opportunities for young men and women and non-traditional students as well.
And finally, The Seafarers International Union has a career path where one can advance from messman to chief steward, wiper to chief engineer, and ordinary seaman to captain.
Sea sickness would kill me. Also I don’t do well with heights.
As always, any class depends on the teacher. That said, I just did it search of the curriculum. There is hope.
“”SUNY Maritime College requires students to fulfill a Western Civilization general education requirement, which generally covers foundational European history, including the Renaissance and Enlightenment. These courses typically explore pivotal intellectual developments, such as the political theories of John Locke, alongside cultural transformations like the Renaissance.””
“”Humanities Requirements:
Students usually take eight or nine courses in the department, covering various areas including Western Civilization and Social Science.””
“”Enlightenment & Locke:
The curriculum covers key figures like John Locke and his arguments for natural rights, life, liberty, and property in the context of the Age of Enlightenment””
My son in law went to Mass Maritime. I did some contract work for them. It is one of the coolest college campuses I had ever been on. They had just installed a simulator that was a ship’s bridge. The students would learn how to “drive” a large cargo ship and bring them in and out of port (or crash them into a billion dollar pier).
The kids in that major were making near six figures on graduation in 2013. I can only imagine what they are doing now.
I would highly recommend any of the public maritime colleges in the Northeast. They are perhaps the best bang for the college dollar.
Good article. Knew a few guys who graduated the MM Academy. One of them ran a port. Made good coin.
There is one federal maritime academy on Long Island
and six state-run schools.