Empire State departs the Bronx campus September 30, arrives in Norfolk, Virginia October 1, and will spend a month there getting its flight deck certified before moving into a support role for the Navy. That role hasn’t been confirmed. MARAD expects the mission to last about 170 days.
The college’s president says the decision was MARAD’s alone, and he’s pushing for the ship’s return by mid-February so it doesn’t disrupt cadets’ required summer sea training. It’s the first extended absence from campus since Empire State entered service in 2023.
Source: maritime-executive.com/artic…
The post The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), which oversees the country’s merchant marine fleet, has ordered SUNY Maritime College to send its training ship “Empire State” into federal service. The ship normally serves as a floating classroom for maritime cadets, however MARAD has the authority to activate these vessels up for national missions. Empire State departs the Bronx campus September 30, arrives in Norfolk, Virginia October 1, and will spend a month there getting its flight deck certified before moving into a support role for the Navy. That role hasn’t been confirmed. MARAD expects the mission to last about 170 days. The college’s president says the decision was MARAD’s alone, and he’s first appeared on JOSSICA – jossica.com.
