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Maritime Reporter & Engineering News spent some time recently with Elspeth Hannaford, Instructor, Marine Trans- portation Dept., SUNY Maritime College, to discuss SUNY Maritime’s efforts to train the maritime industry leadership of tomorrow. Tell us about yourself? I am a 2004 graduate of Massachusetts Maritime Academy, graduating with a Bachelor's Degree of Science in Marine Transportation and a Third Mate's Un- limited License. Upon graduation, I sailed as a Third Mate for Maersk Line, Ltd. until upgrading to 2nd Mate. After sailing for Maersk, I was hired by SUNY Maritime College as an Instructor for the Marine Transportation Department, teaching various Deck Licensing Courses such as Marine Cargo Operations and Ship Stability, Electronic Navigation, Terrestrial Navigation, and Collision Avoidance. I am also a Watch Mate and Deck Instructor for the Summer Sea Terms, and a Faculty Advisor for Women on the Water. I am a Lieutenant in the Merchant Marine Reserves. I will be completing my Masters in International Transportation Management this year, and I am working towards upgrading my license to Chief Mate. When I am not working in New York, I reside in southern Maine. Please give a brief overview of SUNY Maritime’s Summer Sea Term program. Summer Sea Term is a unique program designed to give Deck and Engine cadets hands on experience and the required sea time to obtain their Third Mates or Third Assistant Engineers Unlimited License to be able to work at sea upon any ship and any ocean. We currently sail for 90 days during the summer months, sailing to such ports as Dublin, Ireland, Pireus, Greece, Valletta, Malta, Reykjavik, Ice- land, and Dubrovnik, Croatia. The cadets in the licensing programs complete 3 sea terms, 45 days for the 2 underclass sea terms, and 90 days for their senior sea term. While underway, the cadets are on a busy schedule, rotating through watch, maintenance, and class. During their watch rotation, the students perform the tasks of a lookout, helmsman, Navigator, and Cadet Officer of the Watch. While on deck, cadets get exposed to working and launching the lifeboats and liferafts, preventative maintenance, line handling, anchoring, man overboard drills, fire drills, and supervising underclass cadets. While in the classroom, cadets learn Navigation, Morse Code and Flashing Light, Marlinspike Seamanship, Ship's Business, Rules of the Road, and Celes- tial Navigation. The Training Ship Em- pire State is a 565 foot converted break bulk cargo freighter. She was converted in 1988 into a training ship that can cur- rently handle a total of 684 cadets and 107 officers and crew. She has been in service as the SUNY Maritime Training Ship for over 20 years. In your experience, how has the Sea Term progressed in the past 5 to 10 years. With the growth of our school and of the licensing programs, the Sea Term has ex- panded from one 60-day cruise to 2 45- day cruises (with many officers and crew, as well as the seniors, staying onboard for TRAINING & EDUCATIONFEATURE SUNY Maritime Building a Better Future Deck officers. Elspeth Hannaford preparing the fast rescue boat. 76 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News At sea. Firefighting drill.
