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Castine Home To
Maine Maritime
Academy
Captain of the tugboat Pentagoet, Tim Leach of Castine, right,
doubles duty as the marine operations manager for
Maine
Maritime
Academy.
Leach and his tug helped guide the MMA training ship State of
Maine
out of the harbor for its two-month training cruise last month. |
It is appropriate
that Castine is home to Maine Maritime Academy, an institution that
is civilian but carries with it a military discipline.
Castine has been
the scene of five American Revolution naval engagements including
the ill-fated Penobscot Expedition that resulted in the loss of 14
American vessels and the end of a naval career for Commodore Dudley
Saltonstall. Despite these inauspicious beginnings, Castine has
played an important role in merchant marine and naval affairs since
World War II, when MMA was established.
Many training ships
at the maritime school have come and gone, but the present one,
nearly 500 feet long, set sail for England and Europe in May—on its
annual two-month cruise.
Still at MMA is the
historic sailing ship Bowdoin captained by Heather Stone and used
for sail training. If the age of sail has passed, visitors to
Castine Harbor would not know it. Most of the craft moored in the
harbor are sailboats, and keeping the tradition alive is a matter of
pride at the academy.
What the school
offers the young man or woman searching for a career is, in the
words of MMA’s Website: “Global, hands-on, high tech ... just add
water!” Maine Maritime Academy is a small, co-educational, public
college on the coast of
Maine,
that offers 700 students a world of opportunities and a campus
located in a beautiful part of the world.
The on-line
brochure continues its sales pitch: “As an international leader in
maritime studies, MMA has graduates serving with distinction on the
seven seas, in corporate boardrooms and in high profile engineering
firms.
“Our newer majors
(described as visionary) address today’s needs and tomorrow’s
concerns regarding energy production, international business
practices, and the ocean environment.
“Regardless of
major, Maine
Maritime
Academy
prepares you for professional success and personal satisfaction.”
MMA is a public
college, created by an act of the Maine Legislature in 1941.
It has a
traditional and regimented lifestyle, depending on one’s major.
About 55 percent of MMA students are regimented and only 7 percent
of last year’s graduates took commissions in the Navy through the
ROTC program. The rest studied and worked for private corporations.
As a public
college, MMA costs are comparable to other state universities and
colleges. It also was the first maritime college to graduate a woman
and offers expanded sports and other women’s programs. The
application process is similar to that of other state universities
and colleges, sometimes easier.
Majors are offered
in business, engineering, engineering technology, logistics,
management, science, and transportation disciplines.
Among those hiring
MMA graduates are Cianbro, Bath Iron Works, Central Maine Power Co.,
Disney, General Electric, Boeing, Caterpiller, and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. There are more jobs than graduates,
Richard Youcis, director of career services, says.
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