April 28, 2005 

Contact: Jennifer Whitty
Public Relations
(707) 654-1720

Cal Maritime Summer Training Cruise To Depart For South Pacific

WHAT:           

On Sunday, May 1, students, faculty, and staff of The California Maritime Academy (Cal

Maritime), a campus of The California State University, will begin their international training

voyage onboard the Training Ship GOLDEN BEAR.  The vessel — along with nearly 300

faculty, staff, cadets, and visiting students —will depart from the Cal Maritime campus for a

two-month journey to the South Pacific, visiting ports that include Papeete, Tahiti; Sydney,

Australia; Suva, Fiji; and Honolulu, Hawaii.  For the duration of the cruise, Cal Maritime students

will be responsible for running the training ship from stem to stern, including navigating and

driving the ship, repairing and overseeing the engineers, and maintaining the vessel. 

The May 1^st departure marks the beginning of the campus’ first two-month training cruise.  The

second training cruise will also travel to the South Pacific, but will depart from Honolulu on July

2 and return to Cal Maritime on August 29.  Approximately 265 cadets, faculty, and staff will be

onboard Cruise 2.

WHERE:       

The California Maritime Academy

200 Maritime Academy Drive, Vallejo

WHEN:         

Sunday, May 1, 2005

·         Students, faculty, and staff board ship 7:00 a.m.

·         Ship departs from Cal Maritime campus at 9:30 a.m.

·         Ship travels under Golden Gate Bridge at approx. 11:45 a.m.

MEDIA OPPS:      

• Capture the Training Ship GOLDEN BEAR departing from Cal Maritime

• Capture shots of vessel traveling under the Golden Gate Bridge

• Interview opportunities with family members seeing their cadets off

WHY:             

Cal Maritime’s annual international training cruises provide Cal Maritime cadets with an intense

and extensive practical real-life laboratory to put into practice the theoretical skills learned while at

the campus. In addition, the ship provides a place where all of the students and staff learn about

the value of, and dependency upon, their shipmates and what it means to be a part of a larger

crew.  Finally, the cruise experience gives Cal Maritime cadets and the visiting students who join

our cruise from other CSU campuses an opportunity to experience the culture and diversity of

foreign countries and the wonders of the Earth that can only be appreciated from a ship's

perspective.