FTV February 25

Students have been enjoying their time off of the T.S. Kennedy with their family and friends. After arriving home yesterday the students returned to school today to offload the ship. This offload is very important because it will put the Kennedy into a condition of standby until next year’s cruise.

Photo courtesy of Evan Bourcier

 The Kennedy must be in standby mode because the vessel is actually owned by the US Maritime Administration, and therefore can be used by that authority to bring the ship into federal service on an as needed basis. In fact, in recent years the federal government activated the Kennedy to help with hurricane relief efforts to victims of Hurricane Sandy.  Since the Kennedy produces its own electricity and its own fresh water, it isl not a drain on strained resources where millions are without power. FEMA used the ship as a no-frills floating hotel for emergency workers for hot showers, light, safety, good food, and clean beds.

During the offload process the cadets return all leftover food shore side, return course material back into the academic buildings, and cleaning the ship one last time to ensure that there was no trash left behind.