Maine Maritime close to getting $300M for new training ship

CASTINE, Maine (AP) - Maine Maritime Academy is closer to getting millions of dollars for the acquisition of a new training vessel.

The U.S. Senate has advanced a funding bill authored by Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine that includes $300 million for the ship. Collins says a new ship would be “capable of meeting the demands of the rigorous instruction students receive.”

Many Maine Maritime Academy students go on to serve in the military or work in marine industries after their training. Academy president William Brennan says the funding for the new vessel would help replace the academy’s aging training ship, the TS State of Maine, with a more modern one.

The funding for the ship is part of a transportation, housing and urban development funding bill that Collins authored.

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This story has been corrected to show the name of the school is the Maine Maritime Academy, not the Marine Maritime Academy.