Delivery of Third U.S. Training Ship Delayed by Mechanical Problems
Reports from the media in Maine indicate the delivery of the third U.S. training ship, the State of Maine, has now been delayed till likely February as the ship awaits repairs to its propulsion systems. The project continues to be behind schedule due to construction delays and has been further compounded by the faults discovered on the ship during trials.
The State of Maine is the third of five National Security Multi-Mission vessels being built by the Maritime Administration as the first dedicated training ships for the U.S. merchant marine. The five state academies, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Texas, and California, were assigned the vessels to replace outdated, secondhand ships that the programs had been using for many years.
Maine Maritime highlights that the new ship, which is 525 feet in length, will double its capacity for cadets. The school expects to expand its program as the Trump administration and Congress debate efforts to expand the U.S. merchant fleet. Maine Maritime is currently working on a multi-year $100 million upgrade to its facilities, including a longer, steel pier, to accommodate the ship.
The training ship was celebrated in a launching and naming ceremony in August 2025 at the Hanwha Philly Shipyard. According to the reports, shortly after that, they discovered problems in the propulsion system on the vessel during dockside trials.
The State of Maine was placed into dry dock in September, where the tail shaft, stern tube bearing, other bearings, and propulsion components were removed for examination. They were to be repaired or replaced. The ship will require a second dry dock to reinstall the components, and then testing will resume.
The ship is now expected to reach Maine, likely in February or before the end of the first quarter of 2026. The original timeline had expected the ship would reach Maine before the end of 2025. They had initially anticipated, before construction delays, that the ship would be ready in October 2024, but that was later pushed back to June 2025. The first keel block for the future State of Maine was placed in the dry dock on May 1, 2023.
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Hanwha Philly Shipyard is also working on completing the fourth ship, Lone Star State, which is structurally finished, and the fifth ship, the future Golden State, began assembly in March 2025 and is expected for delivery by early 2027. The first ship, Empire State, was delivered in September 2023, and the second, Patriot State, in 2024. The Empire State had also experienced technical issues after its delivery.
The construction program is a milestone for U.S. shipbuilding and the future of the U.S. merchant marine. MARAD gave a master contract to TOTE, which is managing the construction project. Hanwha acquired the shipyard in 2024, taking over the partially executed construction program. The ships are the first specially designed for modern training with a full training bridge, classrooms, and modern equipment for the education of seafarers, as well as the capability to support humanitarian missions following emergencies such as hurricanes.