Construction

NSMV and Pier Construction Update

IN LATE SEPTEMBER, Massachusetts Maritime Academy took possession of NSMV II Patriot State meaning NSMV III, The State of Maine V will be the next delivered from Philly Shipyard. The Academy expects her the summer of 2025. The State of Maine V will be owned by MARAD and operated by Maine Maritime Academy. Berthing the new ship will require upgrading and renovating the waterfront and pier, the construction of which is underway and progressing well. 90% of the over $90 million pier upgrade project is being funded by the Federal Government via MARAD.

Describing the NSMV 3, STATE OF MAINE Captain Gordon MacArthur ’00 indicated that the new vessel “will be the first ever purpose-built training ship in our storied history. With thoughtfully laid out lab and classroom spaces, a completely operational second ‘training’ bridge, multiple engine rooms and auxiliary machine rooms, and space for up to 600 cadets, this modern ship should revolutionize how we conduct our at-sea training. Many of the things we currently do in the classroom could be done aboard instead. We are moving to change our at-sea curricula to take advantage of these new opportunities. I am looking forward to our 2026 sea-term when the first group of MMA midshipmen will board State of Maine V for their experience aboard. Stay tuned!”

The waterfront renovation is being executed by Maine-based firm Reed & Reed and renovations are expected to be completed in February 2026.

Leadership

Presidential Search Update

THE SEARCH FOR Maine Maritime Academy’s 16th President formally commenced on October 2, 2024. In a message to the community and on the Academy’s website, S. Catherine Longley, Trustee and Chair of the Presidential Search Committee said, “The Maine Maritime Academy Board of Trustees has appointed a wonderful search committee composed of alumni, student, faculty and staff representatives and a diverse group of trustees, including the board chair, Wayne Norton. We take our role very seriously and will work diligently to recommend the best candidate for the presidential role at Maine Maritime Academy. Our deliberations are confidential; however, we welcome any comments or insights you may have during this important search.”

In late 2024 and early 2025 we will begin interviews following months of recruitment and look forward to making an announcement to the community in the spring of 2025. More information regarding the process can be found on the MMA website.

training

New MMA Fire Training Facility

THE ACADEMY’S state-of-the-art fire training building is now in use as a key element of the Academy’s fire training program. Located on the Bucksport campus, the building has been used for live fire training for undergraduate students, professional firefighters, and as a part of the Center for Professional Mariner Development (CPMD) USCG Recertification and USCG Revalidation. These courses will be offered regularly, and we invite industry professionals to train with us to meet their licensing requirements to maintain their credentials.

The fire training program is being run by Lisa Burton, who joined the Academy in 2010, and oversees training for both MMA undergraduates as well as industry professionals through the Center for Professional Mariner Development. With 14 years of experience in fire service safety, training and public speaking, Burton is a longtime advocate for firefighter safety.

Lisa Burton Manager of Fire Training

Burton serves as a Captain with Castine Fire Rescue Department in Castine, Maine, and currently volunteers as the Everyone Goes Home Advocate Region 1 Advocate Manager for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. In that role, Burton oversees the New England Region volunteer trainers who deliver programs to develop instructors to support NFFF’s Everyone Goes Home programs.

In addition to USCG fire training, MMA intends to expand fire training options to address the needs of land-based firefighters. While there are many training options available, the initial focus will be training land-based firefighters who respond to vessel fires, a natural extension of the training currently offered.

The fire training facility designed by Fire Facilities provides fire training in a cutting-edge, multi-story building designed by Fire Facilities, and offers propane and class A fire training options. Gas fire props, created by Symtec, offer simulators for galley, stateroom, engine, and flange fires. A full building smoke distribution system enhances fire training. Designed with the idea of incorporating training for land-based firefighters, additional training options for the new building include ladder/roof/aerial training, search and rescue, rappelling, forceable entry, confined space, hydrant/pump operations, as well as law enforcement training exercises.

Fire Training Facility

After three MMA deck officers completed their firefighting revalidation course at Maine Maritime Academy’s CPMD, TS STATE OF MAINE Captain Gordon MacArthur ’00 said that the “new fire training facility at CPMD is excellent and the staff was knowledgeable and professional; the facility is going to be a huge asset to MMA going forward and will put us on the map as a state-of-the-art training facility.”

To learn more about MMA Fire Training please contact Lisa Burton, Manager of Fire Training (lisa.burton@mma.edu).

awards & Recognition

Kingsbury Receives Second Fulbright Award

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR of Arts and Sciences Dr. Aaron Kingsbury recently completed the prestigious Fulbright Specialist fellowship at the University of Atma Jaya Yogyakarta in Indonesia. The collaboration extended a rapidly developing personal and professional relationship between Dr. Kingsbury and his Indonesian hosts.
Dr. Kingsbury’s fellowship sought to develop the interdisciplinary teaching and research skills of scholars at his host university. While in Indonesia, he conducted a series of workshops including Drones and Open-Source Photogrammetry for Engineering, Designing an Experiential Educational-Based Curriculum, Drones in the Social Sciences (Theory and Practice for Research), and Innovative and Ecological Approaches to Social Change in Japanese Farming (with Implications for Indonesia). One highlight was a multiple-day series of practical exercises in drone mapping on an active construction site.

Dr. Kingsbury also joined with host Indonesian faculty for regular trips to the surrounding countryside to visit female farming cooperatives. Future research collaborations are planned.

Dr. Aaron Kingsbury at the University of Atma Jaya Yogyakarta in Indonesia.

Dr. Kingsbury has been teaching at MMA since 2018. His research interests include cultural and environmental geographies; sustainability in agriculture; geospatial technologies; and low-altitude remote sensing using drones and kites. He serves as a research advisor for the Agriculture and Forestry Research & Development Center for Mountainous Regions in Vietnam and has been involved in agricultural and development research across Asia-Pacific for over twenty years. Dr. Kingsbury was also a US Fulbright Scholar in Vietnam in 2021-2022. He is a student in the Small Vessel Operations program at MMA.

Call to Service

NROTC Executive Officer’s Corner

It has been an honor and labor of love to develop, foster, and train tomorrow’s future. Not just Maine Maritime Academy’s, but the United States Navy’s. President John F. Kennedy, on Jan. 20, 1961, during his inaugural address to the nation uttered these historic words: “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” Mariners have been answering the call to serve our great nation since the first graduating class in 1943 when 300 officers answered the call to serve at sea during World War II. Three gave their lives in service to the nation, and many others were wounded in action.

The NROTC unit at Maine Maritime Academy was established in 1972 and has been commissioning some of the finest active and reservist officers since. Today, the MMA NROTC Company is 71 Midshipmen strong.

Strategic Sealift Midshipmen cover the bulk of the Unit with 40. Student Incentive Pay (SIP) has recently increased and that has piqued interest in the program. Most may remember this being the Merchant Marine Reserve Program. The Strategic Sealift Officer Program supports national defense sealift requirements and capabilities, which are executed by Military Sealift Command (MSC). The program provides the Navy with officers that possess sealift, maritime operations, and logistics subject matter expertise, and further hold U.S. Coast Guard credentials as merchant marine officers. The Unit is tasked with administrative support and providing the mentorship and coursework needed to commission these Officers in the Naval Reserve. We have been lucky to have a Strategic Sealift Officer (SSO) on staff as a Liaison between the Navy and MMA. Our SSO supports TSSOM during the training cruises and is our only staff officer, on shore duty, that sets sail.

MMA has 19 NROTC scholarship students: 4-year national Navy scholarships, 4-year national Marine Corps Scholarships, and a handful of Sideload Navy and Marine scholarships. All NROTC scholarship students that reside on campus receive a room and board waiver applied after all of scholarships and financial aid is allocated.

Six Midshipmen are College Programmers, hoping to compete for a Sideload scholarship and one Advanced Standing Midshipman. Depending on manpower management we have been able to award Sideloads on 3.5, 3.0, 2.5, and 2-year increments. On the Spot Scholarship Nominations (OTSSN) allows the Professor of Naval Science (PNS) the ability to award a controlled number of scholarships to College Program Midshipmen that have excelled in the Unit.

Five Midshipmen round out the rest of our MMA Unit. These five are part of a new program at MMA. They are the first cohort of the NROTC Preparatory Program (NPP). NPP Midshipmen apply to the program through the MMA website and are vetted and chosen by MMA to receive a preparatory year at MMA. This year is funded by MMA and in turn the Navy reserves a 4-year national NROTC scholarship for them at MMA.

During their prep year they take part in all the unit events and take a class load that builds the foundation for future success in calculus and calculus-based physics. NPP students need to maintain a 2.8 GPA, pass a Navy Physical Readiness Test with Good Low in all categories, pass a Department of Defense Medical evaluation (DoDMERB) and receive the recommendation of the PNS, CAPT Gary Chase. If an NPP student fails to meet the above they will not be awarded the 4-year national Navy scholarship and MMA may bill them for the prep year.

“The strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.” As our Unit grows we are amazed at the grit and resiliency our Midshipmen bring to the fight.

We are training the future of tomorrow’s Navy and Strategic Sealift Officer Force. Please visit our page (mainemaritime.edu/nrotc) on the Maine Maritime Academy’s website if you want more information.

By CDR Michael Short, USN

Leadership

Seth Brown ’98 Named Director of Advancement & Alumni Relations

THE ADVANCEMENT OFFICE is pleased to announce Seth Brown ’98 was named the Director of Advancement & Alumni Relations at Maine Maritime Academy. Brown, who received his BS in Marina/Boatyard Management, is well-known and respected throughout the MMA community. He is an alum, passionate MMA volunteer, former women’s soccer coach and most recently Advancement Office and Major Gifts Officer. In this newly created position, he will be responsible for the planning and execution of Alumni Relations, coordination with the Alumni Association, and helping create a greater link in stewardship and strategy between the Advancement and Alumni functions.

Seth Brown, Director of Advancement & Alumni Relations

Together with Interim President Johnson ’91, Brown has had many discussions on generating a greater link between our current students and their future relationship with the Alumni Association and the Academy. Brown’s optimism, outlook at aptitude on engagement, and creating synergies within a given community will serve MMA and our alumni.

Brown has spent his professional career developing people with a demonstrated history of impacting organizational growth. Most recently, in his capacity as Major Gifts Officer he has supported the stewardship and development of gifts from individuals and corporations to the Academy. Brown has been instrumental in rethinking how our office engages with alumni and students alike. He served as an Annual Fund Ambassador, Adjunct Faculty in the IBL program, the women’s soccer coach for seven seasons, and a member of the men’s soccer team. Additionally, Brown is the parent of a 3rd year MMA student studying IBL and member of the women’s soccer team.
Tim Leach, who graciously stepped in as acting Director of Alumni Relations at our request, will transition to an advisory role within the Advancement Office where we will continue to look to him for his vast and decades long industry relationships. We thank him for his support and leadership during this time of transition.
We are delighted to welcome Brown to this new role.

Awards & Recognition

Tarrant Receives USCG Recognition

ON JULY 8, 2024, Captain Stephen Tarrant, Associate Professor of Marine Transportation, was recognized for his “invaluable and well-received” contribution to the meeting of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Sub-Committee on Human Element, Training, and Watchkeeping (HTW), by Cathleen Mauro, Chief of the Maritime Personnel Qualifications Division for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Office of Merchant Mariner Credentialing.

As a delegate for the U.S. Coast Guard representing the United States at the IMO, Tarrant “proved to be a capable subject matter expert and superb member of the team,” according to Mauro. Tarrant provided expertise in the revision of IMO model course curricula as well as the review of the IMO Seafarers Training, Certification, & Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention and Code. The STCW Convention and Code are intended to “establish basic requirements on training, certification, and watchkeeping for seafarers on an international level.”

Tarrant indicated that “participating in the IMO HTW and being involved in the international effort to write and improve the STCW Code was a fascinating and eye-opening experience.  It was an honor to be part of the US Delegation led by an impressive team from the Merchant Mariner Credentialing branch of the USCG.  I look forward to continuing to be part of the US Delegation as the HTW sub-committee conducts a comprehensive review of the STCW code, which will improve mariner training and safety around the world.”

Mauro emphasized the importance of the U.S. Coast Guard’s “well unformed input and continued leadership at the IMO,” and “genuinely hope[s] that we may welcome [Tarrant’s] participation in future delegations.”

Sports

Sailing Team Continues Rise to National Prominence

The Maine Maritime Academy sailing team began its 2024-25 campaign by hosting the Penobscot Bay Open and Harman Cup on September 7, producing the Mariners’ best result to date. In the Pen Bay Open, Maine Maritime finished in third place out of nine teams with 126 points, led by seniors Ella Beauregard and Amelia Griffith. Another boat was ninth in the Open and MMA was seventh in the Cup race.

The following week, the Mariners tied their best showing with an identical third-place finish in the Shields Trophy hosted by Navy. Seniors Kyle Carse, Finn Weeden, Henri Richardson, and Beauregard led the eight-person boat.

Maine Maritime made history at the Mrs. Hurst Bowl, a womens-only event, hosted by Dartmouth College on September 21-22. The team qualified for the first round of the Atlantic Coast Championships for the first time in school history. Freshmen Jane Marvin and Simone Ford participated for MMA in Division A, while freshman Julianna DeMarco and Beauregard handled Division B duties.

“Our sailors rose to the occasion and turned in personal-best performances at the team’s first national event,” stated MMA sailing coach Patrick DiLalla. “The company they are keeping on the scoresheet is elite. It seemed unimaginable to be battling in the middle of this fleet, even one year ago. Intensity at practice and relentless attention to details has put us in this position.”

by Patrick Stewart, Assistant Director of Athletics for Communications