Captain’s Log #3

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40° 25.05' N, 068° 43.29' W | Atlantic Ocean

We are back underway after our first port of the sea term and now bound for Belfast, Northern Ireland. Cadets, crew, faculty and staff enjoyed the sights and sounds of New York City, visiting museums, restaurants, monuments and more. Docking at Pier 88 in NYC is always a great location, it puts all the great options and walkability of New York City, truly at the front door of the ship. I enjoy visiting the Intrepid Naval Museum along with the South Street Seaport Museum. There is so much rich history I enjoy learning about.

On May 29, many of our faculty and crew, myself included, took a train from New York City to Philadelphia to visit Hanwha Philly Shipyard. We had the opportunity to tour TS Lone Star State, which is currently in an outfitting dock where it will remain until it’s finished. 

TS Lone Star State is part of the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) program, designed to provide a purpose-built, state-of-the-art training platform to replace the aging fleet of training ships currently used by the six state maritime academies here in the United States. These ships will also serve as a disaster response resource during humanitarian efforts in times of need. Ours is the fourth in a series of five. The first three were assigned to State University of New York Maritime Academy, Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Maine Maritime Academy (our cadets will be sailing on TS State of Maine next sea term), and the fifth to Cal Maritime Academy. 

The 524-foot state-of-the-art ship is a serious investment by the federal government in supporting the future of the maritime industry and future merchant mariners in Texas. We’ll soon have significantly increased capacity for at-sea training, and with that, the ability to help ease the pressure of the labor shortage of merchant mariners. 

Although we still have a little over a year until it’s at the dock on campus, we are actively preparing for its arrival. Over several months early next year, our full-time crew will be taking shifts living in Philadelphia and working with the shipyard to familiarize themselves with the new ship and commission its systems. Although there’s still a lot of work to be done before we take possession of our new training ship, I’m excited that we’ll soon be ushering in a new era for the maritime academy. 

Capt. Wade Howell
Master, TS Kennedy

Media Contact
Taylor Bounds
bounds@tamu.edu