WASHINGTON, June 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Maritime Partnership (AMP), the voice of the domestic maritime industry, proudly congratulates the more than 1,250 graduates from America’s maritime academies who make up the Class of 2026. However, as these graduates enter the workforce, the Trump Administration has waived the Jones Act for almost 150 days, a policy that threatens to reduce opportunities for newly credentialed mariners and jeopardizes the very industry prepared to employ them.
“We are proud of these men and women who have dedicated years of rigorous study and sea time to join America's maritime workforce,” said Jennifer Carpenter, President of the American Maritime Partnership. “The Jones Act creates family-wage careers that these graduates have trained for while supporting the safe and reliable delivery of cargo Americans depend on. Extending the Jones Act waiver threatens those careers, weakens American maritime dominance, and shifts opportunities from American mariners to foreign carriers.”
The 2026 graduates hail from the seven maritime academies in the United States: the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point, N.Y.), State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College (Fort Schuyler, N.Y.), Cal Poly Maritime Academy (Vallejo, Calif.), Great Lakes Maritime Academy (Traverse City, Mich.), Maine Maritime Academy (Castine, Maine), Massachusetts Maritime Academy (Buzzards Bay, Mass.) and Texas A&M Maritime Academy (Galveston, Texas).
Following graduation, many will serve aboard vessels in the domestic fleet, which consists of more than 45,000 vessels, including container ships, freighters, tankers, offshore supply vessels, dredges, tugboats and towboats. Others will contribute their skills to U.S. shipbuilding and repair yards, helping design and construct the next generation of American vessels. Additionally, some will serve in uniform, joining the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, or other branches of the military.
However, without the Jones Act, the vessels these graduates are trained to operate would be replaced by foreign ships crewed by foreign mariners, sending jobs, investment and maritime expertise overseas while weakening America’s ability to strengthen its own maritime workforce and sealift capacity.
Graduates of the U.S. merchant marine academies must pass a rigorous U.S. Coast Guard examination process, including three days of testing and mastery of complex technical knowledge. Their training combines classroom learning with hands-on experience aboard training ships like the new U.S.-built National Security Multi-Mission Vessels, or commercial vessels operating under the U.S. flag. This American commitment to our deep sea, Great Lakes and inland waterways has reduced the likelihood of incidents for over 100 years and counting.
This graduating class of 2026 is exactly the workforce the Trump Administration has said it wants to grow. President Trump’s 2026 Maritime Action Plan explicitly calls for expanding mariner training and education, investing in state maritime academies, and building the pipeline of American mariners needed for the nation's maritime resurgence. Extending the Jones Act waiver works directly against those stated priorities.
For more information about the domestic maritime industry and scholarships available for those pursuing a maritime career, please click here.
To speak out against the ongoing waiver of the Jones Act, please click here.
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The American Maritime Partnership (AMP) is the voice of the U.S. domestic maritime industry. More than 45,000 American vessels built in American shipyards, crewed by American mariners, and owned by American companies, operate in our waters 24-hours a day, seven days a week. This commerce sustains nearly 650,000 American jobs, $41.6 billion in labor compensation, and more than $154.8 billion in annual economic output. Learn more by visiting www.americanmaritimepartnership.com.
Contact: info@AmericanMaritimePartnership.com
