The T/S State of Michigan is scheduled to depart NMC’s Great Lakes Maritime Academy at 6 p.m. Wednesday on its annual spring cruise, bound for ports of call in Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie and Superior.
A total of 52 cadets and 10 faculty/crew members will be on board. The ship is scheduled to remain at sea through June 3, when it will return to Traverse City to restock the vessel for the remaining three weeks of the cruise. The cruise is scheduled to conclude on June 28.
The annual spring training cruise is one of three sea projects every Maritime cadet must complete and is an integral part of the training provided to cadets in both the deck and engineering programs. The cadets will complete their remaining sea projects on U. S. flag commercial vessels. The itinerary is designed so that all cadets in the Deck Officer program will be eligible to sit for their Great Lakes Pilotage Endorsement when they sit for their Coast Guard Merchant Marine Officer’s license prior to graduation.