January 23, 2002

Dreams set sail at open house

Prospective cadets attend Maritime Academy event

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       Piloting a 730-foot freighter through the Soo Locks and down the St. Marys River Saturday afternoon, Justin Kreimes got his first taste of his dream of being a captain in the Merchant Marine.
      Using the bridge simulator at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy, the high school senior steered the huge ship through the busy waterway with only a minor mishap. Mark Dolan, a third year cadet at the Academy, assisted Kreimes at the simulator.
      Dolan was one of a number of cadets helping guide future and prospective students and their families through the classrooms and facilities during the Academy's bi-annual Open House.
      The big draw was the bridge simulator, which includes programs for different boat sizes, cargoes, weather and waterways. Navigating a freighter through the narrow passage for the first time, even a devoted freighter enthusiast like Kreimes found out how challenging life on the Great Lakes can be.
      "I had to call in and tell about the scratch in the paint," said Kreimes, a senior at Franklin High School in Livonia who came up for the Open House with his family. "The Open House was useful because I am used to piloting a 46-foot boat down the Detroit River and this was a 730-foot boat through the locks."
      Fascinated with freighters for years, next fall Kreimes will be in Traverse City as a first year cadet in the Great Lakes Maritime Academy. He has studied about Great Lakes shipping and shipwrecks for years and even created an internship for himself with a small boat in the Detroit area that delivers mail to passing freighters.
      "He loves it, you just can't keep him away from the water," said Rod Kreimes, Justin's father. "He has always been pretty well set on what he wanted to do."
      Besides loving his job and working hard to rise up the ladder, Kreimes can look forward to a lucrative career from the get go.
      Great Lakes Maritime Academy graduates can pull down starting salaries of $50,000 plus for six or seven months of work on the Great Lakes, with room and board while on the ship included. Overtime and career advancement will only boost that figure over the years.
      Generous benefits plus time off, with some programs giving 30 days off for every 60 days worked, have made the career increasingly attractive, even for older people with families. More cadets are coming into the Academy to start a new career, with 22 of 50 of last fall's class being some years out of high school.
      Mark Dolan came into the program two years ago as a career change. When the sign making company he was working for was sold and he lost his job, he began looking around for a stable, well-paying career that was flexible.
      "I was getting older and asking myself what do I want to do," recalled Dolan, who has worked a variety of different jobs over the years. "I want to have time off to go sailboat racing and have time on the water, so this was perfect."
      Being a Merchant Marine is an excellent career choice for people looking for something different, noted John Berck, Admissions Coordinator for the Academy.
      "This is not an easy program by any means, but one where the rewards are very great," Berck said. "The industry not only in the Great Lakes but worldwide has an urgent need for Merchant Marine officers. On the Great Lakes, the industry could use 35-40 new officers each year, and we're currently graduating between 20-25."
      Flexibility is another key to the program's success. Graduates will be qualified to work on both lakes and oceans, with engineers licensed to work on any horsepower or size ship.
      In addition, since 1999 students will graduate from the Academy with a bachelor's degree in business administration from Ferris State University plus an associate's degree in applied science from Northwestern Michigan College. If a student already has a bachelor's degree, they can graduate in three years from the Academy.
      The variety of duties and portability of the program's training drew Dan Hamilton of Port Huron to the Open House Saturday afternoon. A high school sophomore, Hamilton is considering a career in the Merchant Marines, focusing on the engineering side.
      "There's all sorts of stuff you can do with this training, you're not stuck with one thing," he said. "And there is always something to fall back on."