News Feature
Originally published in
Castine Patriot, March 16, 2023
Harbor Committee to review MMA’s docking plan for new training ship
by John Epstein
On Tuesday, March 21, at 4:30 p.m., Castine’s Harbor Committee will discuss plans submitted by Maine Maritime Academy to replace its 33-year-old training ship State of Maine with a modern vessel. The meeting, to take place in the first floor conference room of Emerson Hall at Castine’s town office, 67 Court Street, will be open to the public.
According to Zander Parker, who chairs the five-person committee, the new ship will be a multi-mission security vessel; it will be comparable in size to the old one but with a significantly different type and style suited for national emergencies and humanitarian assistance.
The Harbor Committee is concerned with maintaining the public’s safety in the harbor. While the new ship will be docked on MMA property, it will abut the publicly accessible town dock. Zander says the group expects to review available engineering plans prepared on behalf of MMA by GZA GeoEnvironmental, a Massachusetts-based firm with offices in Portland, Maine.
