CASTINE (AP) – The captain of the Maine Maritime Academy training vessel who was taken off the ship for emergency medical treatment last weekend appears to have suffered a stroke, his family said Thursday.

Capt. Laurence “Larry” Wade fell ill while the State of Maine was sailing in the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday and the vessel diverted to Siricusa, Sicily, on the advice of the ship’s physician.

, Dr. Andy Iverson, Wade’s family said.

Iverson remained with Wade at a local hospital as his family arrived Tuesday. The family is making arrangements to transport Wade home in the near future, the family said in a posting on the academy’s Web site.

The State of Maine, meanwhile, continued its training cruise with an unscheduled stop in Palermo, Sicily, said Maine Maritime’s spokeswoman, Janice Zenter.

The training ship left Castine on May 8 and was on its way from Gibraltar, its first port of call, to Odessa, Ukraine, when Wade became ill. The stop in Palermo was substituted for the port of call in Odessa.

It’s the 10th anniversary training cruise of the 500-foot State of Maine, which has a crew of 55 and 200 students.

AP-ES-05-31-07 1608EDT