MMA’s new training ship arrives in Castine
The NSMV State of Maine entered the harbor under ‘near perfect’ conditions
Two tugboats spun the training ship 180 degrees and carefully pushed it to the new pier. The pier—which is operational but still under construction— is being built to accommodate the size of the new vessel. Photo by Steele Hays.
July 13, 2026
By Steele Hays
CASTINE—Maine Maritime Academy’s new training ship, the NSMV State of Maine, cruised into its home port of Castine for the first time on July 12. The ship arrived under near perfect conditions with smooth seas and light wind.
The vessel was greet by excited cheers of from a crowd of cadets’ family members and friends, townspeople and summer visitors.
Two tugboats spun the 525-foot training vessel 180 degrees and eased it slowly to the new $100 million dock built specifically for it. Heavy mooring lines were cast ashore and secured. After years of planning and anticipation, the State of Maine was home.
More than 30 pleasure boats cruised out to greet the ship and accompany it into harbor, while hundreds of cadets lined the top decks in black and white dress uniforms, which they call “salt and peppers.”
Cadets boarded the ship in Portland on May 3 for an 11-week summer training session. They were joined by a contingent of students from Texas A&M Maritime Academy for the last portion of the voyage, which took them north from the Gulf of Mexico to St. John’s, Newfoundland, and Labrador.
More than 30 pleasure boats cruised out to greet the ship and accompany it into harbor. Photo by Steele Hays.
The academy provided a “chase boat” for special guests and members of the news media to meet the training ship offshore for its final approach. Sue Loomis, former dean of faculty and a current board of trustees member, was aboard.
“I am very excited,” Loomis said. “This new ship is so much better in every respect. The technology is better, the training will be better, it’s more comfortable for the students. This will equip them better for today’s world. We are so lucky to […] get this ship.”
“In many ways,” said captain Gordon “Mac” MacArthur in an email to The Rising Tide. “We have more dedicated training and lab spaces, more classrooms and more living space. The ship has two bridges and multiple machinery spaces. We are still trying to figure out how to best utilize these spaces and outfit some of them with training aids, simulators, etc. It is a work in progress, but this ship is much better suited for training and much less space-restricted. For operations, the ship is faster so we can cover more ground on the sea term which allows us more flexibility in where we go.”
This is the fifth primary training vessel operated by MMA but it is the first to be specifically designed as a training vessel. Previous ships were all designed for other purposes and retrofitted for training.
Hundreds of cadets lined the top decks in black and white dress uniforms, which they call “salt and peppers.” Photo by Steele Hays.
The NSMV State of Maine is one of five sister ships built to the same design specifications as part of a program managed by the federal Maritime Administration and authorized by Congress, beginning in 2015. The program authorized and funded construction of the national security multi-mission vessels to serve multiple purposes—to train licensed mariners for the U.S. merchant fleet and to serve as emergency response vessels in case of national emergencies. That occurred with the previous State of Maine in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and heavily damaged many offshore oil platforms.
The new ship has two bridges and two engine rooms. On the top bridge, officers and the crew operate the ship. Directly below them, students in the simulation bridge are instructed and trained using the same systems and equipment. The same dual approach is used in the engine rooms.
Compared to the previous ship, the NSMV State of Maine has twice the gross tonnage and is faster. It can accommodate 600 cadets and 160 faculty and crew, compared to 288 total on the previous ship.
One of the parents eagerly waiting in the crowd was Robin Chandler, of Nederland, Texas, whose son, Corbin Chandler, is a senior at Texas A&M Maritime Academy and has been on board since May 23, serving as cruise commander for A&M cadets.
“It’s been a very, very good experience[for him],” Robin Chandler said. “He’s loved it.”
Later this month, Corbin Chandler will join other A&M cadets and staff in Philadelphia to accept delivery of A&M’s new training ship, the NSMV Lone Star. That vessel built to the same design specifications as the State of Maine. The Lone Star is the fourth of the five NSMV ships produced and given to state maritime academies.
The new pier built to accommodate the State of Maine is operational, but portions of it are still under construction. The work is scheduled to be completed in mid-2027. Built on steel pilings, the pier is four feet higher and extends 140 further from shore than the previous wooden pier.