MarAd: Merchant marine grads in high demand

MarAd: Merchant marine grads in high demand The U.S. Maritime Administration said 85 percent of students graduating this spring from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and six state maritime academies have found employment afloat. Another 10 percent have shore-side employment, some with maritime companies.
   “This data indicates that the job market for merchant marine officers remains robust. There is a growing, worldwide demand for fully trained merchant marine officers and licensed mariners,” said U.S. Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton. “Excellent training combined with ongoing global trade expansion will continue to make the graduates of U.S. maritime colleges among the most qualified and employable mariners in the world.”
   MarAd operates the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y., and provides funding and training ships to state schools in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, California, and the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City, Mich.
   Great Lakes, MarAd noted, has placed all of its 2008 graduates in jobs afloat.