<p>One thing that KP has been VERY slow to catch onto is developing some sort of tug and barge program. To the best of my knowledge, we are the only maritime school in the country that doesn’t have a class or some sort of program to promote this very important and rapidly expanding part of the maritime industry. Let’s face it: the deep-sea U.S. fleet is a tiny fraction of what is used to be and probably isn’t getting any bigger in the near future. Meanwhile, tug companies are begging for licensed mariners and the pay and working conditions are much better than they used to be. I know a good number of my classmates who want to go right into tugs upon graduation. There is definitely demand within the regiment for this. </p>
<p>There were so many tug companies that showed up at the Sea Fair last year, all eagar to make some contacts with midshipmen, yet there were a couple shipping companies that were no-shows, simply because they weren’t hiring and weren’t anticipating having to do so in the near future. </p>
<p>We have the capability to do this (McAllister, in particular, has been very excited to promote their company at KP and have taken on mids for weekend trips, as well as sea-year training).</p>
<p>Unfortunately, right now, KP is behind on this and perhaps some of the “rethinking” of the school’s mission should be to adapt to the present-day industry demands.</p>