Happy Thursday!
Well, we
went to the Greater Houston Port Bureau Commerce Club Luncheon
at the Houston Marriott South at Hobby Airport. The speaker was COL Michael E. Fossum, Vice
President, Texas A&M University (TAMU), Chief Operating Officer, Galveston
Campus, and Superintendent, Texas
A&M Maritime Academy. Colonel
Fossum has had a long, interesting career in the Air Force and National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) where he was an astronaut who has had
more than 194 days in space and had done 7 spacewalks, and even was the
Commander of the International Space Station (ISS). After
his retirement from NASA, he joined TAMU in Galveston. Here he is helping build the future of the
maritime industry.
Colonel
Fossum gave an informative talk about how TAMU
at Galveston is supporting the future of the maritime industry especially
with its Maritime Academy. He spoke
about the importance of our Blue Economy which has been even more important
since Covid and all the supply issues we have had. What is a Blue Economy it is how we use and
care for oceans, rivers and lakes for the betterment of our lives which include
everything from employment, growth of our economy, recreation, energy as well as
caring for its habitat in a responsible way.
The Maritime
Academy at TAMU at Galveston is one
of seven of its kind in the United States.
At the Maritime Academy students will have normal classroom learning
experience, but they will have three summer sea terms for seamanship,
navigation, and engineering operations onboard a training ship which originates
in the Gulf of Mexico. They are
expecting the TS Kennedy freighter this year for more of a full-time
arrangement with the US Government to help train our countries future merchant
marines. The United States Maritime
Administration (MARAD) is building a training ship at the cost of more than
$330 million dollars, but it will also be used as an emergency relief vessel for
when we have disasters or hurricanes, and it will originate in TAMU at Galveston in the Gulf of Mexico. The training vessel has recently started
construction and is expected to be completed by late 2024 or early 2025. If
you would like more information about the Maritime Academy at Texas A&M in Galveston or any of
its other programs, please click the link: Texas A&M University at Galveston - Texas
A&M Galveston, TX (tamug.edu)
If
you would like to learn more about the training and emergency relief vessel
being built for the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration
(MARAD), please click the link: NationalSecurity Multi-Mission Vessels | MARAD (dot.gov)
We are looking forward to the next Commerce Club, which is on
Thursday, April 13, 2023. We hope to see
you there!
Have
a great and relaxing evening!