New Training Facility

Center for Professional Mariner Development underway

Groundbreaking for the MMA Center for Professional Mariner Development (CPMD) is planned for May, the first phase of which is a firefighting training facility on academy-owned land in Penobscot, Maine.

The goal is to complete the new classroom space and equip the facility for firefighter training for MMA students and professional mariners to use in the 2018-19 academic year.

Renderings show the classroom building and the live-burn structure.

“The facility will also be developed in additional phases and used by Continuing Education to provide professional mariners with re-certification courses required by the U.S. Coast Guard,” says MMA President, Dr. William J. Brennan. “A key goal is to provide an ancillary source of revenue to support operational costs of the academy, lowering reliance on tuition, and thereby the cost of
attendance for students in the future.”

Currently, MMA students travel to an off-campus location for most firefighting training, so there will be an immediate benefit from having a local site. It will also provide a contemporary, high-tech simulation environment built to the standards of certifying organizations. This includes a live-burn training structure, using a propane burn system, a classroom structure with storage, and power/water utilities run to the build site.

“Utilizing a purpose-built live-burn facility, we will be able to replicate the internal environment of a ship, which is quite different from a traditional building, architecturally,” says Capt. Nathan Gandy ’92, Dean of Maritime Training, who will oversee the program.

His current additional role as Commmandant will be split off and filled by a new hire in the near future.

“We will continue to assess program expansion opportunities that can both advance professional mariner careers and enhance the skills of our students,” Gandy says.

Over time, MMA leadership will look to expand the simulator center in the BIW Building, the construction of a Helicopter Underwater Evacuation Trainer (HUET) and a number of other technology simulators and trainers, as well as the redevelopment of portions of the waterfront to support a lifeboat training facility to fully serve the certification requirements of professional mariners.

The estimated cost of the live-burn structure and classroom/storage area is $2.5 million, funded through a combination of private donations, Continuing Education revenue, and MMA operating funds.Some $750,000 in private contributions have already been pledged for the project.

CPMD offers potential to meet demands for more highly trained, certified and credentialed mariners.█

Photo: Billy Sims

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