Empire State VII

Empire State docked at SUNY Maritime College in October 2023
History
United States
Name	Empire State VII
Owner	U.S. Maritime Administration
Operator	SUNY Maritime College
Ordered	April 2020
Builder	Philly Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Cost	US$315M
Yard number	33 [1]
Laid down	10 December 2021 [2]
Launched	24 September 2022 [3]
Completed	End of June 2023
Acquired	September 18 2023
Homeport	Fort Schuyler, The Bronx, New York City, New York
Identification	IMO number:  9910313 [1]
Status	completed
General characteristics
Class and type	NSMV, Training Ship/Troopship
Length	160.05 m (525.1 ft)
Beam	27 m (89 ft)
Height	38.4 m (126 ft)
Draft	6.5 m (21 ft)
Depth	16.8 m (55 ft)
Decks	10 Decks (6 above main deck, 3 below main deck)
Ramps	RoRo
Installed power	16,800 kW (Electrical), 9,000 KW (Propulsion)
Propulsion	4 x Wabtec 16V250 Gensets, [4] single screw
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement	700 (600 cadets, 100 officers, staff crew (training); 1000 (disaster relief)
Aviation facilities	helipad

Empire State VII, callsign WDO2002, IMO number 9910313, is a training ship owned by the United States Maritime Administration and operated by SUNY Maritime College. She is the first vessel in the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) class and has replaced the 1961-built Empire State VI. The new training ship is the seventh vessel to carry the name Empire State for the SUNY Maritime College ^[5] but its first purpose-built new build. The previous training ships had been converted cargo or military vessels. ^[6] (While SUNY refers to the ship as Empire State VII, and US Coast Guard regulations allow use of Roman numerals in a ship name, ^[7] the vessel displays her name as "Empire State" without a numeral.)

The preliminary and basic NSMV design was developed by the Herbert Engineering Corp. of Alameda, California, ^[8] and the rest of the design was completed by DSEC headquartered in Busan, Korea. While primarily a training ship the NSMV class is also to be equipped for disaster relief: a Roll-on/Roll-off side ramp, container space and crane, and a helipad. ^[9]

The contract for the first two NSMV vessels was signed with Philly Shipyard (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) in April 2020 with anticipated delivery in Spring of 2023. ^[10] Steel cutting for the first vessel began in December 2020. ^[11] Its keel was laid on 10 December 2021 ^[2] and launched on 24 September 2022. ^[3] The vessel was delivered to the SUNY's pier on 18 September 2023. ^[12] In January 2024 she sailed to San Juan, Puerto Rico for her maiden voyage and as part of the Regiment of Cadets' winter sea term.

Winter Sea Term 2024: New York, New York - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Summer Sea Term 2024: New York, New York - Nassau, The Bahamas - Port Canaveral, Florida - Portland, Maine - St. George's, Bermuda

Summer Sea Term 2025: N/A

References

1. "Ship Particulars / IMO 9910313" . Retrieved 11 December 2021.
2. "Philly Shipyard Lays Keel for First National Security Multi-Mission Vessel". MarineLink.com. Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
3. "Philly Shipyard Launches First Training Ship Empire State". MarineLink.com. Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. 26 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
4. "GE to Supply Power and Propulsion Systems for US Maritime Administration National Security Multi-Mission Vessel". General Electric. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
5. "Climb Aboard the Empire State VII". New Training Ship Status. SUNY Maritime College. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
6. "Training Ships of the SUNY Maritime College". Training Ship Gallery. Maritime Industry Museum at Fort Schuyler. Archived from the original on March 9, 2001. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
7. "Naming A Ship: What You Need to Consider and How It's Happened Historically". jdpower.com. J.D. Power. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
8. "Herbert Engineering Corp. - Representative New Building Projects" . Retrieved 5 February 2021.
9. Eugene Van Rynbach (February 21, 2018). The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (PDF) (Speech). Alameda, California. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
10. Blenkey, Nick (8 April 2020). "Philly Shipyard books $630 million NSMV training ship order". MarineLog. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
11. Reid, Alecia (21 January 2020). "Philly Shipyard "Coming Back To Life" After Running Into Hard Times In Recent Years". CBS Philly. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
12. "First National Security Multi-Missions Vessel, the Empire State VII, Arrives In New York". Marine Insight. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2024.