CASTINE, Maine — A crew of 210 Maine Maritime Academy students and staff will sail out of Castine on Saturday en route to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, the school announced Thursday.
The training ship State of Maine will depart for the two-week training at 10:30 a.m. under the direction of Capt. Leslie B. Eadie III of Brewer.
Weather permitting, the ship will depart St. Croix on Jan. 11 and return to Castine on Jan. 16. Training activities in port will continue through Jan. 19.
Students pursuing an officer’s license from the U.S. Coast Guard as a third mate or third assistant engineer are now required to train at sea for at least 300 days during their first three years at the academy. Freshmen and juniors sail aboard the MMA vessel while sophomores are assigned to merchant ships worldwide. In past years, MMA training cruises have taken students to Aruba, Bermuda, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Malta, Poland, Puerto Rico and Russia, as well as other European and Caribbean countries.
Family and friends are welcome to send the ship off on Saturday, and it will also be available online at www.mainemaritime.edu/streaming. Family members are also invited to follow the ship’s blog at cruise.mainemaritime.edu.
