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Posted on 05/09/2026 11:12:34 AM PDT by BenLurkin
The gangway up to the Empire State VII slopes from the dock at Fort Schuyler in the Bronx, where the East River meets the Long Island Sound. The ship is massive — 530 feet, nine decks - and it's being prepped for its annual summer teaching cruise.
Tom Murphy, SUNY Maritime College's Chief of Staff and a 1993 alumnus, has spent a lot of time on vessels at sea. But this one is different. "This is the first ship purposely built for training cadets," he said. "This isn't just a working ship, this is a school on water."
SUNY Maritime is one of six state-run maritime academies in the country. Most are run like quasi-military academies. Students wear uniforms, follow regimented schedules, and learn through a curriculum that blends traditional engineering and seamanship coursework with the Coast Guard-required licensing classes students need to work aboard a ship.
"Each student is required to do three summer sea terms to accumulate their 360 days of sea time," Murphy explained, "required to sit for the license." A U.S. Coast Guard license can open the door to lucrative careers in the maritime industry, and right now, the country doesn't have nearly enough people who hold one.
Most students pursue one of two tracks. One leads to positions running a ship's systems and the engine room. The other is focused on seamanship and maritime shipping. Opportunities for work are wide and varied; from cargo ships to oil tankers, from the private sector to government work supplying ships in the U.S. Navy.
Without enough mariners, navy ships could run dry in days Industry groups say there are roughly 8,000 open positions across the U.S. maritime sector. More than 5,000 are with the Military Sealift Command, the federal agency responsible for keeping Navy ships stocked with fuel, food, and ammunition in waters around the world. Without enough supply ships operating in the Persian Gulf, some Navy vessels near the Strait of Hormuz could exhaust their provisions in as few as five days.
John Okon, SUNY Maritime's president and a 1991 graduate, puts it plainly. "The Navy does not have global reach, our national defense does not have global reach, without the logistical supply chain, which is our merchant marine," the retired U.S. Navy Admiral said from his office inside Fort Schuyler.
SUNY Maritime College and the other state-run maritime academies are trying to fill that gap. The school asks a lot of its students. They take between 18 to 24 credits a semester, and grind through a course load the SUNY cadets describe as a double major: traditional engineering or operations classes stacked on top of all the Coast Guard-required licensing coursework.
"Our kids graduate highly educated, focused," Okon said. " When they graduate, their biggest problem is how are they going to manage all the money they're making and all the opportunities that they're going to have?" Starting salaries for entry-level officers are running well over $100,000.
Longer stretches at sea and closer to conflict The need to staff vessels that supply U.S. Navy warships is so urgent, Military Sealift Command is offering signing bonuses of up to $54,000 for a three-year contract and starting salaries that can exceed $170,000. But those ships can sometimes operate for months at a stretch and venture into conflict zones. Videos posted on social media, showing missiles flying over the Persian Gulf, illustrated the inherent risk of working alongside the Navy during the Iran war.
Graduating senior Finn Mahan said the additional money is appealing to students who want to serve their country in a civilian role while filling a critical need. "That also makes us heavy targets," he said, "because the enemy knows just as well how valuable and how important these supply ships are to our active-duty Navy vessels."
Faced with a shortage of merchant Marines, the Trump administration unveiled the Maritime Action Plan in February. It aims to grow the pipeline of licensed mariners to meet that need. Admiral Okon framed the stakes in terms that stretch beyond the current graduating class and the conflict with Iran. "Name something you went to purchase at a store," he said, "or that miraculously showed up through an Amazon truck. Just know that there is an army of mariners on the ships, moving those goods around the world."
Maxwell Cappella is part of that army. He graduated from SUNY Maritime last year and recently wrapped up a four-month cruise as a third assistant engineer on a ship under a federal contract, but not part of the Military Sea Lift Command. (He's not at liberty to discuss the ship's operations.) He and a crew of five others managed the engine room and all mechanical systems. "We're like the heart of the ship," Cappella said.
The lure of a $50,000 signing bonus wasn't enough to draw him away from a shorter cruise, 24/7 internet access and other benefits that come with the job. While at sea he had almost no expenses. "You don't have to drive to work. You don't have to cook your meals, no rent," the 22-year-old said. The work below deck is the same, regardless of a ship's purpose — 12 hours on, 12 hours off, 7 days a week without interruption, even on holidays.
The Empire State VII will sail this summer with hundreds of cadets aboard, logging sea time toward their Coast Guard licenses, moving closer to the moment when they'll have to decide what kind of mariner they want to be, and where they're willing to go.
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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.
What's the problem? That's only "half days"! Not to mention all the work/training you had to get done during the 12 hours a day you were "off". But yeah, I miss it too!
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.
The very light rainbow sheen of diesel atop every cup of coffee, almost too strong to drink...
Horse cock sandwiches for midrats...sometimes leftovers when it was a good day.
Not even knowing...or caring...what day it is...
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.
Drinking 5 cups of coffee on the balls to four and falling asleep before your head hits the pillow. Reveille 2 hours later, 3 more cups of coffee before O-call and quarters. When they say the Navy runs on coffee, it ain't really a joke.
The oilfield is similar. It runs on coffee and diesel with a healthy dose of grit thrown in.
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