U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy expressed support for investments in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point during a visit to the campus on Thursday, April 3, following reports of poor conditions.
“I’m a little bit shocked,” Duffy said to the crowd of midshipmen at the academy. “You guys have mold in the places that you live… Did I hear you didn’t have hot water?”
This comment was met with an uproar by audience members yelling “yes.”
The visit came just a week after Long Island congressional members introduced a bipartisan $1 billion campus modernization bill for the facility, which Duffy did not comment on supporting.
The $1.02 billion project would last over 10 years and include upgrades to the entire campus. Its purpose is to bolster national security and maritime readiness.
Duffy did not provide a dollar amount needed to revitalize the campus but said it should be done in less than 10 years.
The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, which is overseen by the U.S. Department of Transportation, is one of five federal service academies, joining the list with the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
“But the problem is you guys haven’t had the focus of a secretary to say, ‘we’re going to turn this around,’” Duffy said. “We’re going to invest the money that you all deserve.”
A 2022 Maritime Security Infrastructure Council report showed that the 82-year-old academy’s facilities were gravely in need of upgrades, many of which had gone beyond their life expectancy without any improvements.
“You don’t deserve to have an academy that’s dilapidated,” Duffy said.
The project under the proposed bill would kick off with $54 million for design and planning over the first year of the project. Every year of the project afterward would cost about $107 million annually.
New construction is estimated to cost $519.8 million, with $357.6 million for facility renovations and upgrades, $91.1 million for design and $51.3 million for program management.
The constructions and renovations include $133.1 million for the Midshipmen Leadership Development and Readiness Center, $111.7 million for the Midshipmen Academic Center, and $94.8 million for upgrades to existing buildings.
Duffy stressed the need for investment in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy against the backdrop of China’s growing marine presence. He dropped figures including that of a single Chinese shipbuilder producing more commercial vessels in one year than the United States has since World War II.
“Beijing’s rapid expansion in shipbuilding has allowed China to eclipse the size of our U.S. Navy,” Duffy said. “…That’s frightening, that’s unacceptable and that is going to change,” Duffy said.
