HIGH SCHOOLS
Maritime Technologies Education Program
A Partnership Between: Training Resources Ltd., Inc.
the Maritime Industry and:
Sweetwater Union High School District
Regional Occupational Programs Office
Imperial Beach, California
The Maritime Technologies Program, a new non-traditional unlicensed mariner apprenticeship program within a regular high school curriculum which is attached to a clear, defined and industry-supported path to employment uniquely positioned as a model to meet by replication the long-term unlicensed needs of the U.S. Merchant Marine. The program enrollees at Mar Vista High School in Imperial Beach, CA, will be the first high school students in the country ever to graduate with all of the domestic and international credentials necessary to enter the unlicensed ranks of the U.S. Merchant Marine.
Significantly, the U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command (MSC) has strongly endorsed the program, has helped develop the curriculum, and has provided critical paid summer training billets for the students. This has been a key step in the success of the program. The MSC, along with the other employers and unions on the advisory board, have offered these students employment upon graduation.
The maritime industry as a whole is faced with significant manpower shortages over the years ahead and solutions are actively being pursued by the industry, not only for support of domestic requirements, but for national security interests as well. Crews must be available for vessels activated in support of a national crisis. A qualified civilian merchant marine is vital to our national defense and commerce. This unique program brings together education, labor, management and government to solve a national problem.