It is back to the future, at least temporarily, for Massachusetts Maritime Academy cadets as they prepare for this year’s sea term.

Every year, cadets go on a six-week training cruise to learn, hands-on, a variety of maritime skills on its training ship, the TS Kennedy.

This year, it was hoped Mass. Maritime cadets would be cruising on TS Patriot State II, a new state-of-the-art training ship. Delivery of the $300 million vessel was delayed because of the pandemic. It was to arrive last summer, then January, and is now expected by the start of summer 2024.

To accommodate the new ship, the dock area at Mass. Maritime is undergoing a $15 million renovation.

The sea term — January through February during the winter semester — was also delayed and will be conducted during the spring semester because the academy flip-flopped the semesters this year.

Even if the Patriot State II was delivered as scheduled in January, logistical preparations required to conduct a training voyage would not have been completed in time for a January cruise, Rear Admiral Francis McDonald, academy president, said.

The academy will have one more sea term voyage on the Kennedy, which has served the academy since 2003.

The Kennedy is currently being used by the Texas A&M Maritime Academy and will arrive at Mass. Maritime for the spring sea term cruise, scheduled to begin on April 20.

TS Kennedy once a cargo ship

The Kennedy, originally a cargo ship for the Merchant Marine, was built in 1967, said Mass. Maritime Capt. Elizabeth Simmons, vice president of external affairs.

It was converted into a training ship, the T.S. Enterprise, for the academy in 2003, and after a $10 million renovation in 2009, it was renamed the T.S. Kennedy in honor of the late U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy.

“These used freighters and tankers were converted into training ships that carried 500 to 600 students and about 150 crew and faculty,” McDonald said. “Still, (the Kennedy) was a 30-year-old vessel. We were sailing on yesterday’s technology, actually the day before yesterday’s technology.”

The Kennedy is owned by the federal government but is housed and maintained by Mass. Maritime Academy, which also uses it for training purposes, as will be the case for the State Patriot II.

In times of emergencies or crises, such as hurricanes and even war, the federal government may call the ship for special duty.

“Recent emergencies, such as Hurricane Katrina, showed how out-of-date the ship was,” McDonald said.

From steam-powered to diesel-electric: Mass. Maritime updates training

Technical training on the cruises involves standing watch, learning engineering by working in the engine room, navigation and overall ship maintenance, said Simmons.

While it was still a valuable learning experience, it was done on a ship that is almost obsolete.

For example, the Kennedy is a steam-powered vessel, so engine room work is done on steam-powered engines. Additionally, the ship was not specifically designed for training.

The new ship is diesel-electric powered and “was built to support training needs and emergency needs,” said McDonald. “It is like going from a Fulton steamboat to a Tesla.”

The Patriot State II will be more efficient for training purposes. One example is that the ship has two bridges.

With just one bridge, which is usually staffed by two or three people, 10 people can be crammed in for training purposes.

With the second bridge, as many as 20 people can be trained at once.

There are a number of other “modern” technological features that are on all ships today but that were missing from the Kennedy, such as a navigation simulator.

“Throughout the ship, we can maximize the ability to train and keep people engaged,” said McDonald. “This is the core of what we do. It is experiential education at its best.”

In addition, there is a helicopter landing port toward the stern of the ship.

Mass. Maritime dock renovations needed to accommodate new ship

The Patriot State II is about the same size as the Kennedy but a little shorter and a little wider. The new ship has a larger surface area, making it more susceptible to high winds.

That is one reason why a major renovation of the dock needs to be done.

The dock must be able to withstand up to Category 1 hurricane winds, said Capt. Allen Metcalfe, vice president of operations, who oversees the dock renovations.

Six new 14-by-22-foot fenders will be installed at the pier, along with new bollards — the structures to which the ship is tied at the dock — that can support up to 200 tons.

New pilings are being installed.

Because the new ship is diesel-electric powered, a shoreside power system will be installed with a 2-megawatt line that will run under the ground some 15,000 feet to a transformer that can drop 25,000 volts to the new ship, which needs 6,600 volts to operate, said Metcalfe.

Special construction on the dock is necessary to install a roll-on-roll-off ramp so that, in emergency situations, vehicles can be loaded onto the ship.

Metcalfe said he expects the project to be completed by late spring before the Patriot State II arrives in the summer.

This project at Mass. Maritime is only part of a larger effort by the federal government to support maritime education.

“They recognized the need for well-trained civilian mariners for our economy and our national security,” said McDonald.

He noted that the $300 million that went to the building of the Patriot State II is just part of the 1.5-billion-dollar allotment to build a fleet of five training vessels for the five maritime academies in the United States.

SUNY Maritime already has one of these new training vessels and Mass. Maritime will be the second to receive one.

Maine Maritime Academy, California State University Maritime Academy and Texas A&M Maritime are next in line.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Mass. Maritime Academy’s TS Patriot State II ship to arrive in summer