CASTINE, Maine — The Maine Maritime Academy training vessel State of Maine is scheduled to depart the local waterfront at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 5, on a three-month voyage that will take students and staff to Europe.
This year the cruise will last 90 days because of lengthened requirements in sea time and instruction to receive Coast Guard certifications, according to MMA officials. In prior years, the length of the cruise was 60 days.
Cobh, Ireland, which was a port of call for the ship during the 2011 training cruise, and Cadiz, Spain, are among the scheduled stops on this year’s trip. The 500-foot vessel also is expected to make stops in Charleston, S.C., and Norfolk, Va., prior to returning to Castine in late July. In Maine, the MMA ship also will stop in Portland and in Searsport.
Students pursuing an officer’s license as a third mate or third assistant engineer now are required to train at sea for at least 300 days during their first three years at the academy, according to MMA officials. Freshmen and juniors sail aboard the State of Maine while sophomores are assigned to merchant ships across the globe.
Prior MMA training cruises have taken students to Aruba, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Malta, Poland, Puerto Rico and Russia, among other European and Caribbean countries.
The vessel has limited Internet connectivity while on cruise. The Bangor Daily News will continue to donate daily news service, sending state-wide, national and world news, sports, and business articles via email.
Video of the ship’s departure will be streamed live on the MMA website at http://mainemaritime.edu/streaming/.
Well-wishers are welcomed and encouraged to view the vessel depart from and, in late July, return to the Castine waterfront, MMA officials have said in a prepared statement. Friends, family, and fans are invited to follow the ship’s journey through the cruise blog at cruise.mainemaritime.edu and the cruise Facebook page: www.facebook.com/mainemaritimecruise.
