Captain’s Log #1

Howdy! 

As we get ready to kick off Summer Sea Term 2025, I’m excited to share the first Captain’s Log of the summer. I’ll be sharing updates and sea stories here throughout the sea term.

Planning a sea term is an amazing exercise in logistics, and usually starts during the previous sea term. We discuss potential ports, based on what we think would add to the cadet experience and whether or not the ship can make the distance between ports in a limited amount of days – very basic, high-level planning. 

We always have an after-action review of the previous summer. We talk about:

• What worked and we should keep doing
• What didn’t work and we should never do again
• What we need to keep doing but we need to improve 
• What we need to do in the future

This year, planning looked a little different. At the end of summer 2024, several of us at both Texas A&M Maritime Academy and Maine Maritime Academy realized that due to the construction timeline of our new training ships, each academy would have to run two ships simultaneously–an impossible task. We hatched a crazy idea: we would partner together. 

We combined forces with Maine Maritime Academy in fall ’24 to start joining our academic and operational programs for a joint sea term. This summer, 232 Maine cadets will join us as we sail across the Atlantic Ocean for the last summer of steam on the venerable TS Kennedy.

This year, Maine will sail with us on TS Kennedy while their permanent crew is at Hanwha Philly Shipyard conducting commissioning, testing and familiarization with the brand new TS State of Maine. Next year, our cadets will sail with Maine Maritime Academy on TS State of Maine while our crew is at the shipyard completing our ship, TS Lone Star State, slated to arrive on campus by fall ’26.

After firming up the itinerary this fall, we worked with our port agents to determine berth availability, and then operational activities to get the ship underway began in earnest in January. The crew began safety checks and annual certifications of all of the safety equipment on board including the life jackets, survival suits, life rafts and lifeboats. All lifting gear is recertified and navigational equipment is tested, inspected, and recertified. The engineers begin testing all operational safety systems onboard the ship: fire alarms, emergency lights, generators and sprinkler systems.

During this, the academy office ensures that all license-option cadets are prepared to sail. This includes confirming that credentials are up to date and required trainings are complete. The commandant’s office interviews and selects the sea term commander, lead deck, and lead engine cadets, as well as company commanders and executive officers.

In mid-April, our permanent engineering crew with the addition of our summer crew brought the now-unique steam plant of TS Kennedy back online for testing and operation. To do this, the boilers are filled with water, which is distilled and treated. Then the engineers start “bump firing” the boilers, lighting the burners in the boiler for several minutes every half hour to slowly warm the system up to prevent metal fatigue. Once the system is hot, they begin full pressurization and heating to start to make what’s called “dry steam,” which is capable of being used in the turbines. 

The next system to bring online is the ship’s internal power, provided via the ship’s steam-powered turbo generators. Once the ship is on internal power, the rest of the systems can be brought online, all lighting can be reenergized and all systems tested for proper operation. The ship’s crew takes the time before cadets board to ensure that everything is in working order. 

Everybody must have a bed to sleep in. The ship is nearing capacity for crew, faculty and staff. With 429 cadets, assigning berthings was a challenge. Transportation logistics also allowed us to flex our logistics skills, as Maine Maritime Academy had to fly to Texas to check in and board the ship on May 5. The check-in process verifies credentials paperwork again, and we hand out ship IDs for safety and security.

The logistics of the pre-sea term period include loading stores and supplies. Traditionally, the last pallet of food loaded onto the TS Kennedy are two pallets of spaghetti sauce, as they weigh the most and are near impossible to move as they’re placed on the ship. This year, we loaded nearly 60 tons of food, including two and a half tons of Blue Bell Ice Cream.

About five days before cadets board, the last of the summer crew is brought onboard, a full watch is set and the crew settles into the ship’s routine. Meanwhile, the academic and administrative teams finalize plans and processes. The ship’s departments conduct daily scheduling meetings to plan out programming. 

Instructional offerings are finalized and any scheduling or space conflicts are resolved. The cadet rotation schedule is completed, equalizing to the greatest extent possible the number of watch days, maintenance, utility and instruction days, as well as the number of liberty days in port, the arrival and departure days between companies and the total number of watch rotations. Additionally, the station bill is created, and the ship’s security system populated with ship IDs.

Everyone on board practices emergency drills in preparation for the final Coast Guard inspection prior to departure. Once the Coast Guard has approved and reauthorized the certificate of inspection, the ship is cleared for sea. This year, that happened on May 15, and we are all clear to set sail on May 18. 

I look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday at the dock party and Sunday at the sail away flotilla to kick off another great sea term. 

Capt. Wade Howell
Master, TS Kennedy