FY18 Omnibus Appropriates $300M for SMA Training Ships

On Friday 23 March 2018, President Donald Trump signed the FY18 Omnibus spending bill into law. Massachusetts Maritime Academy President Fran McDonald brought the news to his MMA constituents in a brief prepared staement, as follows:

I am very pleased to report that contained in this budget is $300M to begin the long-sought State Maritime Academy Training Ship Replacement Program. Known as the National Security Multi-mission Vessel (NSMV), this new-build replacement training ship program will improve the training and stabilize the production of mariners by the nation’s maritime academies for decades to come.

Work to advance this program began over 8 years ago and thanks to much effort by the State Maritime Academies’ presidents & superintendents, our nation’s elected officials, maritime industry leaders, the Maritime Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation, completion of the final design and construction of the first vessel can commence. These state-of-the-art training platforms will each carry 600 cadets and 100 officers and crew. They will also be designed to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a response vessel in times of national emergency.

It is important to note that the first ship is scheduled to replace SUNY Maritime’s aging Empire State and that the second ship is scheduled to replace Massachusetts Maritime’s Training Ship Kennedy (built in 1967). It is critical that funding for the second ship, currently in the President’s FY19 Budget, receive the full support of Congress. As such, I encourage the entire Massachusetts Maritime Academy community to contact your Congressperson and Senator and encourage them to throw their full support behind the NSMV program.