The training ship Lone Star State is well on its way to the actual Lone Star State, where next week it will become the in-house training vessel for Texas A&M-Galveston‘s Maritime Academy, the only institution of its kind on the Gulf Coast.
Classified as a National Security Multi-Mission Vessel, the Lone Star State is the fourth such ship built for the U.S. Maritime Administration, joining other training vessels affiliated with maritime academies in Massachusetts, New York, and Maine. (A fifth, for California, is a few more months away.)
Measuring 524 feet long and nearly 90 feet wide, the new ship can simultaneously train up to 600 cadets and has a total berthing capacity of 760 for humanitarian missions. Both the government and the university want to shore up the nation’s current shortage of merchant marine officers, who operate an array of watercraft. That includes oil tankers, container ships, ferries and tugboats. If needed, merchant marine officers also serve as an auxiliary to naval operations, such as delivering troops, supplies, or equipment.
“All of [our] previous training vessels have been ships that are on their last life, and they were something else previously, Capt. Allan Post, the Maritime Academy’s deputy superintendent, told Chron Friday from aboard the ship. “They [were] converted from freighters and from other types of vessels, so when it comes to the equipment that is on board, it’s mostly old and outdated.
“These ships were purpose-built from the ground up to be training ships, and they have all of the equipment that you would see out in the fleet today, so you’re able to practice on stuff you’re actually going to go experience rather than on stuff that your grandfathers may have experienced,” Post added.
The ship was built at Philadelphia’s Hanwha Philly Shipyard and christened in July. (Texas A&M-Galveston)
After Congress allocated $325 million for the Lone Star State in 2020, construction began in January 2023 at the Hanwha Philly Shipyard; the keel was laid that December. After being christened in July, the ship’s crew has spent the past few weeks preparing to sail to its new home. Fun fact: its sponsor is Rachel Campos-Duffy from the San Francisco season of MTV’s The Real World, wife of Real World Boston alumnus and current U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.
“These vessels are so impressive they dominate the campuses where they sit,” Texas A&M vice president Col. Michael E. Fossum, who also serves as chief operating officer of the Galveston campus and superintendent of the Maritime Academy, said at the time. “Our cadets are no longer training on aging, hand-me-down ships; they are training on the absolute best, most high-tech platform in the world.”
Besides its training functions, the Lone Star State will be deployed as needed for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions throughout the Gulf states. As such, it is equipped with roll-on/roll-off cargo ramps, space for shipping containers, a helicopter pad, medical and hospital facilities, and emergency provisions. It will be the Sea Aggies’ first dedicated training vessel since the federal government reassigned the Texas Clipper II following hurricanes Katrina and Rita more than 20 years ago.
On its way to Galveston, the Lone Star State has already helped rescue a vessel in distress off the North Carolina coast. (Texas A&M-Galveston)
The Lone Star State didn’t wait to reach its new home to take action, either. On Thursday afternoon, it coordinated with the U.S. Coast Guard to assist a boater in distress 60 miles off the North Carolina coast. As of 1 p.m. Friday, the ship was located nearly due east of Daytona Beach, Fla. It is expected to arrive in Galveston around 9 a.m. on Tuesday, but will not take part in any public events “due to safety, security and operational measures associated with bringing the ship to its homeport for the first time,” the university announced on Tuesday.
On Friday, however, Texas A&M-Galveston set November 21 as the date for a “campus and community-wide celebration” of the Lone Star State. Until then, the public is invited to watch its arrival from several nearby locations next Tuesday, including Big Reef Nature Park, Fort San Jacinto, Seawolf Park, and Pier 21.
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This article originally published at Texas A&M-Galveston marks major milestone as new training vessel heads home.