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Cal Maritime News

09 Feb 2024

Steel Cutting Ceremony Held for Fifth NSMV

(Photo: California State University Maritime Academy)

Philly Shipyard on Friday held a keel laying ceremony for the fifth and final vessel in a series of new purpose built, state-of-the-art training ships for America’s state maritime academies.The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) new vessel program – known as National Security Multi-Mission Vessels (NSMVs) – was designed to provide world-class training for America’s future mariners and to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions…

07 Jul 2023

Dumont Takes the Helm at Cal Maritime

Michael J. Dumont (Photo: California State University (CSU) Maritime Academy)

Michael J. Dumont started his tenure as interim president of California State University (CSU) Maritime Academy.Aside from service as a reserve military officer, Dumont was a senior executive in several agencies of the Federal government. Earlier in his career he was a litigation attorney with a private law firm representing aviation and maritime businesses, municipal governments, and institutions of higher education. He later served with the U.S. Department of Justice where he handled aviation and admiralty litigation before leading major white-collar criminal investigations.

20 Sep 2022

Cal Maritime Names Golden Bear's First Female Captain

California State University Maritime Academy has appointed Samaro Bannister-Schneider to serve as interim captain of Training Ship Golden Bear (TSGB). Image courtesy Cal Maritime

California State University Maritime Academy appointed Samaro Bannister-Schneider as interim captain of Training Ship Golden Bear (TSGB). Captain Bannister will serve as Cal Maritime’s first female TSGB captain. She is a 2000 graduate of Cal Maritime’s Marine Transportation (MT) program, and began her career on a fleet of Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) research vessels conducting survey operations. Soon after, she moved up to a larger fleet of vessels, the Watson Class LMSR RO-RO’s where she found her home.

22 Sep 2022

Marine Group Boat Works: Standing Steady on Four Legs

(Photo: Marine Group Boat Works)

Ask anyone working in the shipyard business, and they’ll tell you balancing yacht, commercial and government vessel repair work concurrently is no easy task. Add a bit of new construction to the mix, and you’ve got Marine Group Boat Works (MGBW), a Chula Vista, Calif. shipyard that has seemingly mastered the balancing act.“There are a few tricks to the trade,” said MGBW president Todd Roberts, a Cal Maritime graduate with a U.S. Coast Guard license for vessels up to 1,600 tons. “The biggest thing we do is run an extremely clean, environmentally friendly operation. . .

14 Sep 2022

OXE Marine Boosts Its US Presence

(Photo: OXE Marine)

OXE Marine, manufacturer of the OXE Diesel outboard engine, announced it has expanded its global distributor and dealer network with the addition of eight new partners across North and South America.The company said it has signed on distributors and dealers of OXE Diesel: BCI Marine (Canada), ADR Power Systems (FL, GA), So Cal Maritime (CA), Stanley Parts (TX), Dalco Power (Puerto Rico), Nixon Power (TN), Advanced Diesel (FL), and Phoenix Marine (AL).Jeremy Davis, OXE Marine's director of global sales…

16 Mar 2022

Funding Secured for Cal Maritime’s New Training Ship

(Image: MARAD)

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed the $1.5 billion Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) omnibus appropriations package that includes a funding provision for the California State University Maritime Academy's new state-of-the-art training ship.The newly funded ship, which has yet to be named, is the fifth in a series of 524.5-foot-long National Security Multi-Mission Vessels (NSMV) designed specifically for America's state maritime academies. It will replace Cal Maritime's aging training…

21 Oct 2021

Maritime Academies Work Toward Inclusion

U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets aboard USCGC Eagle (WIX 327), "America's Tall Ship," during summer 2021. (Photo: Kristjan Petersson / U.S. Embassy Reykjavik)

Last May, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (CGA) announced that 240 new officers made up its 140th graduating class.The Academy’s announcement referenced additional, important highlights. Women made up 34% of the Class of 2021, and 34% of the graduates were from underrepresented minority groups. Even more focused was the statement that 22 African Americans “walked the stage,” the largest number in Academy history, and 2021 included the second highest number of Asian American and Pacific Islanders.To make the ceremony even more memorable, President Biden delivered the keynote address.

16 Sep 2021

Prefabrication of Federal Shipbuilding Project Funding

Fincantieri Marinette Marine is building the U.S. Navy’s Constellation class frigates (Image: U.S. Navy)

Initial appropriations discussions are underway for Fiscal Year 2022, with a continued focus on federal shipbuilding programs. It has been rough going for the Navy as Congress raised questions about the President’s commitment to the Navy’s long-term shipbuilding program. Meanwhile, House appropriators are seemingly focused on continuing shipbuilding successes at the Maritime Administration and Coast Guard. With billions of dollars in the balance, the U.S. shipbuilding industry…

19 May 2021

Moose Boats Hires Ken Royal as Sales VP

Ken Royal (Photo: Moose Boats)

Califronia-based boat builder Moose Boats said it has hired Ken Royal as vice president of sales.Royal has extensive experience operating Moose Boats as a firefighter with the Tiburon Fire Protection District, and training other operators on Moose Boats, and will bring these skills and knowledge to help grow the Moose Boats brand. “Having logged over 15 years serving his district aboard two Moose Boats catamarans, we find his expertise in real world applications to be of great value to both current and prospective Moose Boats clients” said Stephen Dirkes…

18 Sep 2019

Crowley Awards Scholarships to Four Cal Maritime Students

Photo courtesy of Crowley Maritime

Crowley Maritime Corp. awarded Thomas B. Crowley Sr. Memorial Scholarships to four California State University Maritime Academy (CMA) cadets at the Containerization and Intermodal Institute’s Connie Awards last night in Long Beach, Calif.The recipients earned the scholarships based on their academic achievement, financial need and their interest in pursuing careers at sea.Spencer Hoffman, a third-year student from Loomis, Calif., is currently a junior studying marine transportation. He serves as a cadet ambassador for the academy.

27 Jun 2019

Military Veteran Finds Calling in Maritime Program

Jennifer Allen. Photo: Clatsop Community College

Jennifer Allen is a U.S. military veteran who lives with PTSD. She is also a recent MERTS graduate pursuing a career in the maritime industry.MERTS (Marine and Environmental Research and Training Station) is a small campus situated just east of Astoria on the banks of the Columbia River. It is part of Clatsop Community College and houses a variety of programs including a robust maritime curriculum offering U.S. Coast Guard certifications and associate degrees.“Before coming to MERTS I was going through a rough patch,” Jennifer said.

27 Aug 2018

Change of Command for Cal Maritime's Training Ship

Photo courtesy of Cal Maritime

After 10 years at the helm, Harry Bolton handed over command of the Training Ship Golden Bear Wednesday at California State University Maritime Academy.Bolton, a 1978 graduate of the Academy, returned to Cal Maritime on May 1, 2008 after a 30-year career with American Maritime Officers. Twenty of those years were with American Overseas Marine Corporation (AMSEA) aboard the original preposition ships based out of Guam, Saipan and Diego Garcia. Bolton began sailing as Master in 1985, only seven years after graduation.Dr.

22 Mar 2018

Maritime Simulation: High-tech Meets Practical Skills

Maritime Professional Training (MPT) has just finished a $6m renovation and expansion project with new technology, upgrades in simulation, a new waterside lifeboat training facility, and a recently expanded Main Campus. (Photo: MPT)

When talk turns to ‘Maritime Simulation’ visions of high-tech bridge simulators with seamless graphics and interwoven component simulators – engine room, DP systems, cargo loading – come to mind. But modern simulation is so much more, a wholistic visual, audio, tactile and cereberal experience that prepares mariners to deal with a bevy of real-world situations. Modern maritime simulation has evolved rapidly, driven by exponential leaps in computer and graphic display power, a…

03 Oct 2017

Designing the New National Security Multi-Mission Vessel

(Image: Herbert Engineering / MARAD)

For more than 100 years the U.S. has depended on State Maritime Academies (SMA) to produce USCG licensed merchant officers. The SMA’s have also been an important source of U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard officers, as well as trained personnel for the maritime industry and electric power industries ashore. Key to training these future deck officers and engineers has been the annual sea cruise on dedicated training vessels. The current SMA training ships, all of which were built for other purposes and later converted to be training ships, are getting old.

24 Feb 2017

Voices: Todd Roberts, President, Marine Group Boat Works

Todd Roberts (Photo: Marine Group Boat Works)

"As a kid, I worked for our sister company, Flagship Cruises (formerly San Diego Harbor Excursion),” said Roberts. “I wanted to be a deckhand on the ferry but I was told that I was too young, so I started out sweeping the floors in the boathouse, and doing just about anything, from loading the boats to hauling line. Going to work for me was like other kids going to the Little League field. And so starts the story of Todd Roberts’ maritime career some three decades ago. Roberts graduated Cal Maritime…

22 Sep 2016

Crowley Awards Scholarships to Four Cal Maritime Students

Crowley Maritime Corp. presented four California Maritime Academy (CMA) students with Thomas B. Crowley Sr. Memorial Scholarships during last night’s Containerization and Intermodal Institute’s Connie Awards dinner in Long Beach, Calif. Crowley’s Jenny Terpenning, recruiter, marine personnel, presented the awards to recipients, Christiana Harrell, Bonnie Claire Muchnick, Taylor Sullivan and Alex Yorkman. The scholarships help to further educational opportunities for the students who were chosen based on their academic performance, financial need and interest in pursuing a career at sea after graduation. Christiana Harrell, a sophomore from Big Bear City, Calif., is pursuing a degree in marine transportation with a minor in marine science. She plans to sail after graduation.

05 Jan 2016

Cadets See Benefits of ISM-certified Training Ship

T.S. Golden Bear (Photo: Cal Maritime)

Two years after Cal Maritime became the first U.S. maritime academy and training ship to be certified for the International Maritime Safety Management Code, cadets at the academy are seeing the benefits. “The most compelling part of this story is how the cadets have so quickly adapted to the ship’s Safety Management System (SMS),” said Harry Bolton, captain of Cal Maritime’s training ship Golden Bear. “Prior to any work being done aboard the ship, the cadets – with direction from the faculty supervisor – fill out a Job Safety Analysis (JSA) form…

08 Apr 2015

The New Reality: Investment in Maritime Simulation Surges

Resolve Marine Group (Photo: Resolve)

The proliferation of increasingly sophisticated and realistic maritime simulation facilities is taking the market by storm, with investment globally to train new and old mariners alike to exacting new standards. “Simulation technology has continued on a more or less steadily upward trajectory over the last ten years,” said Sam Pecota, Director of Simulation, California Maritime Academy, “The clarity and fidelity of our current full mission simulators is significantly superior to that which was possible at the turn of the century.

03 Oct 2014

Crowley Awards Scholarships to Cal Maritime Students

(Photo: Crowley)

Crowley Maritime Corporation last week presented four California Maritime Academy (Cal Maritime) students with Thomas B. Crowley Sr. Memorial scholarships during Containerization and Intermodal Institute’s Connie Awards dinner in Long Beach, Calif. Crowley’s Victoria Ellis, training specialist, presented the scholarships to the recipients, each of whom were selected for their strong academic records, leadership and financial needs. Recipient Andrew Bahnsen, a senior studying marine engineering technology at Cal Maritime…

10 Sep 2014

Date for Diary: BlueTech & Blue Economy Summit & Expo

The Maritime Alliance promotes the 6th Annual event Novemeber 12-13, 2014 at the McMillin Companies Event Center in San Diego, CA  as a unique opportunity to understand trends, network with leaders from the public and private sector, see innovative technologies by the exhibitors, and identify possible partners. Recent studies are helping us understand the size and dynamic nature of the Blue Economy and particularly the BlueTech sector that is enabling us to explore, measure and develop ocean industries like never before. And financial and strategic investors are recognizing the opportunity evidenced by an increasing number of M&A and financing transactions - four sizeable transactions announced in the San Diego BlueTech community in the last 120 days alone. Leaders from the U.S.

30 Sep 2013

Crowley Awards Scholarships to Three Cadets in California

Photo: Crowley

Crowley Maritime Corporation awarded three Thomas B. Crowley, Sr., Memorial scholarships to California Maritime Academy (Cal Maritime) students Andrew Leonard, Jeff Harcq and James McSweeney during the 2013 Containerization and Intermodal Institute’s Connie Awards dinner in Long Beach, Calif., Thursday night. Crowley Training Specialist Victoria Ellis presented the scholarships at the event, which was attended by more than 200 maritime and transportation professionals. Leonard…

29 May 2012

Cropper Named President of Cal Maritime

Thomas A. Cropper, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, was named president of California Maritime Academy.

The California State University Board of Trustees has named Thomas A. Cropper, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, as president of California Maritime Academy. "I am pleased and honored to be chosen as the next president of the California Maritime Academy, and look forward to working closely with the exceptional students, staff and faculty," said Cropper. Cropper was among the finalists for the position to succeed retiring President William B. Eisenhardt, who has served as president since 2001. He is expected to begin in his new role as president on July 1 following retirement from active duty.

02 May 2012

Cal Maritime's Website Wins Awards

San Francisco Bay area branding and web design firm, Project6 Design, is featuring an award-winning website they created with a new case study. Located in Vallejo, California, The California Maritime Academy (Cal Maritime) is a unique and specialized campus of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. They are one of only seven degree-granting maritime academies in the United States — and the only one on the West Coast. Project6 Design led the Cal Maritime team through a collaborative process to identify a new brand strategy and website design and direction for the school. Cal Maritime had a problem: they were a major California State University campus with over seven thousand website pages of content…

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