PASADENA, Texas – The San Jacinto College Maritime Technology and Training Center on the Maritime Campus is now open for maritime training along the Port of Houston.
Located at 3700 Old State Highway 146 in La Porte, Texas, the 45,000 square-foot Maritime Technology and Training Center sits 14 feet above ground and is home to more than 40 maritime courses.
“I have to say the new building looks amazing, and it really has a college maritime feel to it,” said Jennifer Williams, who moved from New York a couple of years ago to attend the San Jacinto College maritime transportation associate degree program. “Having the view of Bayport is great for incoming students and for them to be able to visually see the different types of vessels and piping systems.”
Williams will spend her remaining semester training in the maritime center alongside the water as she completes courses in integrated operations, bridge resource management, and radar unlimited, before her second summer internship.
The ground level of the Maritime Technology and Training Center showcases a training dock with lifeboats, davits, and fast rescue craft, and coming soon, a separate industry dock for crew changes. This also allows for vessel specific training for local maritime companies and serves as an aquatic training facility for sea survival and life raft training. There are 15 classrooms; engineering simulators to train maritime engineers for hydraulic, electric, pump control, motor control, heating and air conditioning, and refrigeration; and a multipurpose space for industry conferences and corporate partner meetings.
Highlights of the new facility include the three ships bridge simulators, donated by the Houston Pilots in 2013. These room-sized replicas of ship control bridges are part of a 3,748 square-foot simulation suite, complete with instructor stations, debrief classrooms, and development stations.
San Jacinto College will host a grand opening for the Maritime Technology and Training Center on the Maritime Campus from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., on Tuesday, March 8, 2016. For more information about San Jacinto College maritime, visit www.sanjac.edu/maritime.