BUZZARDS BAY – The federal Maritime Administration has decided to use the Massachusetts Maritime Academy training vessel T/S Kennedy in the recovery efforts related to Hurricane Harvey in Texas.
MMA spokesman Chris Ryan said the Buzzards Bay school received word on Friday that their ship would be called into service and head to the Gulf of Mexico.
The Maritime Administration owns the vessel, which is operated by the college.
The exact nature of the Kennedy’s upcoming mission will be discussed further next week. The ship is used by the MMA for their semester at sea term at beginning of each year. Students learn all aspects of running the ship while also taking classes.
The T/S Kennedy was used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 2012 to assist in recovery efforts in New York in the days after Superstorm Sandy.
