Town joins Academy in formal sendoff; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to conduct research on transatlantic crossing.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n CASTINE, Maine, Wednesday, May 8, 2024<\/strong> \u2014Today, Maine Maritime Academy (MMA), one of the United States\u2019 foremost maritime universities offering degrees in engineering, science, management, and transportation began their annual training voyage on the training ship STATE OF MAINE<\/em>. Students, officers, and crew departed Castine\u2019s waterfront at 1130 for foreign and domestic ports of call. After calling Castine home for the past 27 years, this will mark the final departure for the current STATE OF MAINE<\/em> from its home port. Under the direction of Captain Gordon \u2018Mac\u2019 MacArthur, Master of the vessel, the educational cruise commenced in port on Sunday, May 5 for pre-sailing preparation. The Town of Castine, students from Castine\u2019s Adams Elementary School, family and friends joined for a brief ceremony on the dock to wish the ship and her crew farewell.<\/p>\n MMA President, Jerry Paul \u201989, RADM USMS reflected on the importance of the Academy\u2019s training voyages in his remarks to a gathered crowd, \u201cToday, marks the final departure from the shores of Castine for our beloved USNS Tanner, or T\/S STATE OF MAINE IV<\/em>. An entire generation of MMA students have had the pleasure of training aboard this vessel. She safely stewarded more than a quarter of a century of young mariners to ports all over the world. The hands-on training offered by our faculty and staff through these voyages is second to none. I am proud of our students, their mentors, and experiences they will have only through an MMA education.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2024 sea-term will be 74 days in length with an itinerary that includes ports of call in Port Everglades, FL; St. Thomas, USVI; Santa Cruise de Tenerife, Spain; Mallorca, Spain; Leixoes, Portugal; St. John\u2019s Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada; Portland, Maine. \u00a0202 students, 25 faculty and staff and 20 crew will take part in this voyage. MMA is pleased to be working with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) for deployment of six \u201cArgo Floats\u201d from the STATE OF MAINE during the two transatlantic crossings. These floats will gather and transmit hydrographic data back to scientists ashore.<\/p>\n The current MMA T\/S STATE OF MAINE<\/em> (aka USNS\u00a0TANNER) <\/em>will be returned to the Department of Transportation\u2019s Maritime Division\u2019s (MARAD) Ready Reserve Force when it is replaced by a National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV), in early 2025.\u00a0 USNS TANNER<\/em> was originally designed and built in 1990 as an oceanographic research vessel. Renamed STATE OF MAINE, the ship arrived in Castine in 1997 to serve as the Academy\u2019s at-sea training platform. In this role, it has completed 30 training voyages.<\/p>\n Master of the T\/S STATE OF MAINE<\/em>, Capt. Mac MacArthur added, \u201cSea-term or \u201ccruise\u201d is the \u00a0first at-sea experience for our newest students and the final at sea-experience for our upper-class students. Freshman will put into practice the basic maritime skills that they learned in the classroom over the course of their first year.\u00a0 Upper-class students will be the leaders on this voyage as they not only hone their craft as deck officers and engineers, but also grow as leaders.\u00a0 This is the hands-on learning experience that our young women and men come here for. It is so rewarding to watch our students evolve during their more than two months at sea. On this ship is where they really refine their skills as mariners. Chief Engineer Aaron Coy, the other officers, our crew and I are honored to play a role in their growth and education.\u201d<\/p>\n Castine\u2019s Selectboard Chairman Gordon MacArthur spoke briefly about importance of the Town and Academy relationship. In a personal tie to the vessel and voyage, he wished his son Master of the T\/S STATE OF MAINE<\/em>, Captain Gordon \u2018Mac\u2019 MacArthur safe passage. \u00a0The vessel will return to Portland, ME on July 16, 2024 with the final day of this year\u2019s sea-term on July 18th.<\/p>\n