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The latest surge in blue water ship- building and the seagoing billets that those jobs create is a welcome change for a domestic maritime sector that had seen nothing but decline for the past four decades. Still, and from a training, demand, and recruitment point of view, the brown water sector is arguably the place to be for today’s aspiring mariners. That’s because increasingly sophisticated equip- ment, expanding fl eets and a much tighter regulatory regime are creating the demand for ever more mariners. The nation’s maritime academies are responding with curriculum that re- fl ects what is actually needed, chang- ing to meet the times. One such place is the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. The industry is desperate for these (brown water) graduates. This year, a fall job fair at the school featured 76 companies looking to fi ll 550 jobs. A list of 28 recent Ma- rine Transportation (MT) graduates shows 20 going to three companies in particular: Kirby Inland Marine (13), G&H Towing Co. (4) and Crowley (3). These inland compa- nies are also taking the place of the blue water ships that used to provide internships for MAA students. Incoming students have also taken note: MMA’s freshman and sopho- more classes are showing a signifi cant increase in selecting the USCG li- cense programs. The number of MT candidates stands at 94 for the fourth- class cadets, versus 65 for the seniors, while the number of freshman marine engineering majors (161) contrasts sharply with their senior counterparts (78). Reversing a two decade decline in license-track cadets, 64% of the freshman and sophomores are on a Coast Guard licensing track for both deck and engineering offi cers; up sharply from 44% of MMA upper- classmen. Looking at recent license- track graduates, 10% of the licensed cadets went ashore at graduation (all engineers), while 55% of the entire 2012 graduating class are working ashore (Power plants, Hospitals, civil BY THE NUMBERS Maritime Academies: Returning to the Water … Brown Water 8 MN January 2014 MN JAN14 Layout 1-17.indd 8 12/20/2013 10:02:21 AM
