MARAD Takes Delivery of Fourth Training Ship TS Lone Star State
Texas A&M gets a purpose-built vessel with berths for 760 and surge capacity above 1,000
The US Maritime Administration received the training ship Lone Star State on 21 August, the fourth delivery in a series of new training vessels built for America's state maritime academies.
The ship will serve Texas A&M Maritime Academy, joining previously commissioned training ships for New York, Massachusetts and Maine. A fifth vessel, TS Golden State for California, is expected within months. TOTE Services acted as vessel construction manager, overseeing design and construction.
The National Security Multi-Mission Vessels are the first purpose-built training ships designed specifically for US merchant marine preparation, replacing converted tonnage previously pressed into the role. The ship includes multiple instructional spaces, a full training bridge, modern engineering systems and accommodation for up to 600 cadets.
The design carries a second function. Lone Star State measures approximately 160 metres in length with a displacement of roughly 8,500 dwt, and features standard berthing for 760 people expandable to over 1,000 during humanitarian operations. It also includes ro-ro capability and container handling equipment, plus medical facilities for disaster response missions, which is what the national security designation in the class name refers to.
Construction began with steel cutting in January 2023 at Hanwha Philly Shipyard. The keel was laid in December 2023, followed by float-out in January 2025 and sea trials in June 2026, with the christening held in Philadelphia in July. The vessel is expected to arrive in Galveston in November for an official handover ceremony, and its first sea training term is scheduled for April 2027.
The delivery ends an interim period for the Texas academy. It previously operated TS Kennedy, a 1967-built cargo vessel that served as a stopgap training platform from 2023 until its return to MARAD in September 2025. More recently Texas A&M Maritime and Maine Maritime shared TS State of Maine during summer 2026 training, with the vessel hosting 218 cadets and 17 staff on voyages through the Caribbean and along the US East Coast.
Texas A&M Maritime Academy, established in 1962, is the only state maritime academy on the Gulf Coast among the six such institutions nationwide.
