USMMA Alumni: New Sea Year Safety Program Has "Gone Nowhere to Date"

The alumni association for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) is warning that it could be some time before the school's long-paused Sea Year program could resume, and it says that the problem lies squarely with a new initiative to combat sexual assault.

Sea Year is a cadet program that places USMMA midshipmen aboard U.S.-flag merchant vessels on extended rotations, allowing them to get the sea time they need for their licenses. It is a core element of USMMA's curriculum, and the shoreside elements of the program are run on a compressed schedule in order to leave students enough time to go to sea. 

However, Sea Year has been shut down twice because of incidents of sexual assault and harassment - the first time in 2016, and again in November 2021. USMMA and its twin parent agencies - the U.S. Department of Transportation and the department's Maritime Administration division - created a list of policies for getting Sea Year back up and running, and announced new guidelines in mid-December. The six state maritime academies have agreed to adopt the same set of rules, dubbed Every Mariner Builds A Respectful Culture (EMBARC). 

However, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association and Foundation (AAF) is concerned that this initiative is slowing down the effort to restart Sea Year.

"I am frustrated to report that as of my most recent meeting on Jan. 21 that this interruption in placing our cadets on commercial vessels is not in fact a pause, but has become a stand down entering its fourth month, due to MARAD’s embrace of a bureaucratic approach, called EMBARC, that has gone nowhere to date," said Capt. James F. Tobin (USMMA '77), president and CEO of AAF, in a message to members.

Tobin said that berths that would normally be assigned to USMMA midshipmen are not being left vacant; instead, they are now being taken by state maritime academies' students. "Our position has been, and continues to be, that if commercial shipping is safe for one group of cadets, it is safe for all cadets," he said. 

Tobin said that his organization would continue to encourage congress and the administration to adopt an interim plan that will get midshipmen back to sea as soon as possible. 

"From the start, our goal has been to drive both the executive branch and Congress to readily implementable solutions that will get our midshipmen back on commercial ships while also improving protections," said Tobin. "As it has become increasingly clear that the ironically named EMBARC is a non-starter, we have offered practical suggestions focused on strengthening the existing Shipboard Climate Compliance Team (SCCT) policies that would allow USMMA midshipmen to return to sea immediately."

The Sea Year suspension followed shortly after two published accounts of sexual assault aboard U.S.-flag merchant vessels. After the first and most widely-circulated "Midshipman X" account was released, a group of Democratic senators and congressmen sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to call for a halt to the program. Sea Year was temporarily suspended several days later. 

In mid-December, MARAD released the new EMBARC guidelines, which are intended to assure greater security and get Sea Year restarted. The checklist requires each vessel operator to hold regular crewmember trainings; install stateroom door locks; and implement strict reporting standards, including a new multi-operator database of mariners who have been accused of SASH offenses.