Memorandum 10-37 Maritime Academy Information

MEMORANDUM 10-37

TO: Walt Wrede 2/3/10
FROM: Port and Harbor
RE: AS 44.99.006 & Maritime Academy Info

Alaska Statute Sec. 44.99.006. Agreement for an Alaska Maritime Academy. The governor may enter into an agreement with the Federal Maritime Administration to provide for an Alaska Maritime Academy.
Website excerpts: Federal Maritime Administration (Department of Transportation)
Education: The Maritime Administration plays a part in educating many members of the public about the maritime industry, but we have a particularly large role in the training and education of mariners. We operate the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York, one of five Federal service academies. The Maritime Administration also provides training vessels and other support to six state maritime academies, which are in Texas, California, New York, Michigan, Maine, and Massachusetts. These academies all provide four-year undergraduate programs, and their graduates find employment as licensed mariners and in shoreside occupations such as shipyard management and transportation logistics. We also are active in the current rapid growth of maritime education at the high school and middle school levels.

State Maritime Academies: The Maritime Administration vigorously supports maritime training and education programs. Our intent is to improve the quality of the U.S. maritime industry through improved services to the people who serve at sea and those who work ashore in diverse professions such as shipbuilding, steamship company operations and port operations. Recent events in the world have required the Maritime Administration to address an array of security and training issues to provide a safer and more efficient operation of the merchant marine of the United States.

To ensure a consistent supply of capable and well trained merchant mariners, the Maritime Administration provides limited funding to the six State Maritime Academies (SMA's): California Maritime Academy, Maine Maritime Academy, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Great Lakes Maritime Academy, Texas Maritime Academy, and the State University of New York Maritime College. The education of merchant marine officers is an essential Maritime Administration responsibility to meet national security needs and to maintain the defense readiness. The maritime academies meet that need by educating young men and women for service in the American merchant marine, in the U.S. Armed Forces, and in the Nation’s intermodal transportation system. The Maritime Administration also provides training vessels to all six State maritime academies for use in at-sea training and as shoreside laboratories. The vessels are part of the Maritime Administration’s assistance to the academies to train highly qualified licensed officers.

Maritime Academies
Federal US Merchant Marine Academy Kings Point, New York One of the United States Service academies
State California Maritime Academy California A campus of the California State University
State established 1929
State Maine Maritime Academy Maine
State established in 1941
State Massachusetts Maritime Academy Massachusetts
State established in 1891
State Great Lakes Maritime Academy Michigan A division of Northwestern Michigan College
established 1969
State SUNY Maritime College New York A campus of the State University of New York
state established 1874
State Texas Maritime Academy Galveston, Texas A campus of the Texas A&M University System
state established 1962

Conclusion: State academies are established by states, the Maritime Admin. provides training vessels and limited funding to the state academies.