CASTINE (AP) – The Maine Maritime Academy training ship State of Maine, which had engine problems before and during this year’s cruise, will be needing major upgrades, its skipper says.
Capt. Larry Wade told academy trustees Friday that while efforts are under way to deal with the ship’s short-term needs, officials must begin looking at the long-term picture.
Engine problems delayed the start of the annual training cruise this summer and later forced the ship to bypass its last port on the way home.
The U.S. Maritime Administration turned the vessel over to the academy in 1996, intending that it last 40 years.
Wade said current efforts to repair the engine will ensure that the ship remains “in-class and seaworthy so we can use it for the next few years.”
He said it was unlikely that the academy would acquire a new ship, which means officials must devise a long-term plan to upgrade the State of Maine so it can continue its training mission.
Keeping up with technology and environmental regulations will be the key challenge in the coming years, he said, along with the possible replacement of the ship’s 25-year-old engine.
The existing engine will not meet new emission regulations, Wade said, and other systems on the ship will need upgrades to meet international environmental standards.
A replacement engine, he said, would cost about $1.2 million, without taking into account the necessary support systems. The State of Maine would likely need two of those engines, he said.
“The growth in technology and environmental regulations will be the two major things,” Wade said. “We’re going to have to stay up with technology in order to make it applicable to the standards in the industry, and we’re going to need to watch the environmental regulations, which are continuously changing.”
The academy is preparing to welcome its largest number of undergraduates this fall.
President Leonard Tyler said full-time undergraduate enrollment is expected to be around 750, a record. That enrollment reflects an incoming first-year class of about 240 students, also a record, he said.
The academy has been moving closer in recent years to its goal of maintaining an undergraduate enrollment of around 800.
AP-ES-08-16-03 1100EDT
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