The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has designated 16 maritime training organizations as 2026 Centers of Excellence for training future workers in the maritime industry.
Along with previous designees, there are now 48 Centers of Excellence operating 87 training facilities across 28 states and territories. The five-year designation recognizes federally recognized community colleges, technical programs and apprenticeship sponsors that have a proven record of preparing workers for careers in the maritime industry, both on and offshore.
Collectively, the 48 centers train about 58,000 mariners, apprentices and students each year. The newly designated centers account for nearly 20,000 maritime trainees.
The programs cover a range of maritime careers, from mariners and vessel operators to shipbuilding, engineering, maintenance and other shoreside jobs.
Among the 2026 designees around the nation is the University of Michigan’s Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, which prepares students for careers involving ship design and marine engineering.
The Seamen’s Church Institute, with locations in Houston and Paducah, Ky., provides simulator-based training for mariners to upgrade credentials, including wheelhouse skills and advanced captain and pilot operations.
Sea School, with locations in the Southeast, provides training for commercial vessel operators, including tugboat and wheelhouse skills.
The Corn Belt Ports Rural Maritime & Logistics Training & Education Consortium brings together colleges in four states across the Midwest to provide training related to maritime logistics, supply chains and skilled trades.
Other eligible maritime training organizations will have another opportunity to seek the designation, with MARAD expecting to open the next application period in fall 2026. The 2026 application period closed April 13, and applicants were required to demonstrate a proven record of preparing workers for maritime careers.
Photo by Vitali Adutskevich from Pexels
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