Wartsila welcomes SUNY Maritime students to Trieste

SUNY Maritime students get an up-close view of the assembly of an 18-cylinder Wärtsilä 50 diesel engine during their visit to Trieste, Italy

JUNE 17, 2016 — Wärtsilä welcomed cadets from SUNY Maritime College to its Trieste factory earlier this month during the school’s summer sea term Italian port stop by the SUNY Maritime training ship, the Empire State VI.

On arrival in Trieste, the Wärtsilä Italy management team welcomed the group of close to 600, which in addition to the cadets, included the crew, faculty from SUNY Maritime College, and its president, Rear Adm. Michael Alfultis.

The visit marked a return to Trieste for SUNY Maritime as the group was also hosted by Wärtsilä in 2013.

An extensive agenda was coordinated by Wärtsilä and the SUNY Maritime leadership, giving the cadets the opportunity to learn first-hand how Wärtsilä manages its production facility.

Technical presentations highlighted key topics of interest for the students, including dual-fuel technologies, Wärtsilä Fuel Gas Handling solutions, Wärtsilä’s LNGPac systems, and Wärtsilä technical support team activities.

Rear Adm. Alfultis joined the 100 students for a guided tour of the Wärtsilä manufacturing facility, which gave the group an up-close view of the various stages involved in assembling a Wärtsilä engine.

The majority of the engineering cadets on the tour had earlier completed a medium speed diesel engine course, and had experience in performing maintenance work on a diesel engine. This was in part made possible by the donation of a Wärtsilä 26 engine to the university in 2011 for its shore side laboratory in New York City.

“Over the years, Wärtsilä has been a generous and committed partner in giving SUNY Maritime students the hands-on training and applied learning opportunities that they will need as they enter the maritime industry,” said Rear Adm. Alfultis. “Our cadets always enjoy Trieste and the chance to visit Wärtsilä, and I was delighted to experience it with them.”

“Wärtsilä is committed to supporting the future well-being of the maritime industry through encouraging and helping to educate its future leaders. This visit of the SUNY Maritime cadets has, therefore, been a pleasure for us to arrange. We wish the students every success in their future careers,” said Aaron Bresnahan, Managing Director, Wärtsilä North America, Inc.

In appreciation of the factory tour, Rear Adm. Alfultis hosted the Wärtsilä Italy management team and others from the local office on a visit aboard the Empire State VI, which included a tour of the ship, a 565-foot, steam-powered vessel that serves as a floating laboratory during the school year when not in use for the summer sea term.

The Empire State VI will return to the SUNY Maritime College campus in Fort Schuyeler, NY, in early August for the start of the new academic year.