Maritime Transportation, Associate of Applied Science

Program Information

Do you get swept up by thoughts of a life at sea? Do high salaries and vacation time off interest you? If so, pursuing a degree in maritime transportation might be right for you! The San Jacinto College maritime transportation associate degree program offers United States Coast Guard (USCG)-approved and internationally recognized Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW) maritime training, and deck level course work for all professional mariners. Training ranges from the entry-level deckhand on an inland towboat, to Unlimited Tonnage Masters on the world’s largest ships, and everything in between.

Our staff consists of USCG-approved Ship Masters, Chief Engineers, former US Navy, Merchant Marine Officers, and skilled technicians with more than a century of combined experience who make the learning experience both effective and enjoyable. 

The San Jacinto College associate degree maritime transportation program:

• Provides students with US Coast Guard-approved instruction to be capable, knowledgeable mariners,
• Provides instruction, actual experience, and course work to become a professional mariner or professional captain, and
• Maximizes the number of maritime courses the student can enroll in and includes general academic courses.

Career Opportunities

Texas ranks first in the nation for both domestic and international freight with its waterways, handling almost 50 million tons of freight shipments each year and has been the top exporting state for 13 years.

In Houston, more than 200,000 barge transits occur in and out of the Port of Houston each year.

Texas waterways and ports support approximately 1,170,000 jobs and contribute $264 billion to the state’s economy. These lucrative jobs hold great potential for professional growth and advancement in the maritime transportation industry.

Earning Potential

Note: Below are starting salaries in the Texas Gulf Coast region. Salaries for these positions greatly increase within the Houston region, where there is high vessel traffic.

Sailors and Marine Oilers median salary: $36,201 per year ¹

Captains, Mates, and Pilots median salary: $118,709 per year ¹

For more information, students may contact 281-459-5483 or sanjacinto.maritime@sjcd.edu.

Campus

Maritime Campus

Information

The Maritime Transportation program was developed at the request of an advisory committee comprised of members from the maritime industry. Maritime is a semester credit hour program that incorporates US Coast Guard approved training into the semester credit courses. This training provides instruction to prepare students for a future career as a mariner on board vessels. As part of the Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in maritime transportation, students must complete two Practicums during summer terms. Typically, this means working as a deckhand or crew member on a commercial vessel. Students will obtain a Transportation Worker’s Identification Credential (TWIC) during the first semester.

All US Merchant Mariners are credentialed by a branch of the US Coast Guard-National Maritime Center. It is important that students be able to obtain a Merchant Mariner Credential. Students must be able to pass security screening, medical, and professional standard requirements set by the US Coast Guard.

All maritime transportation courses with the NAUT rubric are held at the

San Jacinto College Maritime Center
3700 Old Highway 146
La Porte, TX 77571

Students may call the Maritime Center for additional information at 281-459-5483.

Admission

Graduates of the Maritime program who apply for a US Coast Guard license must meet professional requirements that include drug testing.

Employers often have additional requirements and stricter standards.

The medical standards can be found at: https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/NMC/pdfs/forms/NVIC_04-08.pdf

For more information, students may contact Maritime Center staff sanjacinto.maritime@sjcd.edu or call 281-459-5483.

Plan of Study

Maritime Campus
3Maritime

Capstone Experience: NAUT 2375 Practicum