The United States Congress continues to support the mission of State Maritime Academies, approving again this fiscal year a significant increase in program funding. MMA President William J. Brennan, who serves as Chairman of the Consortium of State Maritime Academies, says, “This year’s appropriation demonstrates that Congress believes in the value of the Academies and our role in support of economic and national security. Over the past decade, funding for our programs has increased nearly 212%, which translates into direct support for the colleges, students, and maintenance and repair of the training ships, including fuel support for the annual training cruise.”

For the next fiscal year, Brennan added, “I am particularly pleased to report the President’s budget includes funding for the third ship in the National Security Multi-mission Vessel (NSMV) program to replace the aging fleet of training ships with purpose-built modern vessels. This third NSMV is slated to become the new TS State of Maine.” The current academy vessels are aging. The newest is almost 30 years old and the oldest, SUNY’s Empire State, is 56.