Training Ship

Ready to Cruise

Fresh from dry dock and refitting, TSSOM is prepared to soon depart.

T/S State of Maine arrived back in Castine on February 23 after an extended yard period in Brooklyn, New York, and will depart on the annual training cruise on May 10.

Drydock is required for TSSOM every five years. Yard projects included work on the rudder post, rudder and prop shaft; blasting to bare metal and painting the ship’s three ballast tanks; a full hull blast, prime and paint; painting in the engine room bilge; and hydroblast, prime and paint on both houses. Since returning to homeport, the main engine has been overhauled. Cost: nearly $5 million paid by MARAD.

First-year Unlimited License students are undergoing a condensed but thorough shipboard deck and engineering familiarization program.

Ports of call for Cruise 2018 (subject to change) include Cadiz, Spain; Rotterdam, Netherlands; Lisbon, Portugal; Civitavecchia, Italy; and Alicante, Spain before arriving back in Castine on July 14.

Ports of call include Spain, Portugal and Italy.

The 2018 Training Cruise will be 70 days in duration, shorter than the 90-day cruises of the previous two years. First-year students will stay aboard for the entire cruise, as will the junior deck students. Junior engineering students will be split between Cruise A and Cruise B, as their sea day requirements differ. Half will participate in Cruise A with training, watches and maintenance aboard the ship during the North Atlantic transit and the first three cruise port visits. Their final stop will be to report for additional shoreside training in Castine specific to STCW requirements. Cruise B students will report for Cruise one week early for the STCW training in Castine prior to cruise. They swap out with the Cruise B junior engineers in Lisbon in mid-June.

TSSOM’s new Chief Engineer is Clifford “Sandy” Cameron ’84, who has been sailing as Chief for more than a decade on multiple MSC vessels, and he continues a long legacy of family connection to MMA.█

Photo: Les Eadie

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