By Kathy Chouteau
The JAMKO Foundation held a graduation ceremony April 16 aboard the historic Red Oak Victory ship in Richmond, honoring eight apprentices who completed the first phase of the foundation’s Merchant Maritime Apprenticeship Program.
The 12-week program combines classroom instruction with hands-on work aboard the vessel. The cohort’s apprentices ranged in age from 18 to 50 years old.
The ceremony took place in the ship’s theater, opening with a moment of silence for mariners “who are no longer with us,” JAMKO Executive Director Michelle Edmonds told the audience of graduates and their loved ones.
Edmonds described maritime work as “a really serious career,” while thanking families “for lending us your loved ones for 12 weeks.”
According to Edmonds, the 12-week program runs 24 hours per week, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Apprentices split their time between two days aboard the Red Oak Victory and two days of classroom learning at the Cypress Mandela Training Center in Oakland.
Edmonds said the program, now a federally registered apprenticeship, is designed to prepare people for careers as merchant seafarers at a time when maritime shipping underpins daily life. “Everything you order online, most of the things you have, came by boat,” she said.
The structure is intentionally broad: JAMKO rotates apprentices through “all three levels of entry” — deck seamanship, engine and galley — so participants can discover what fits. “We want to give them agency and choice,” Edmonds said, adding that apprentices are introduced to seafarer unions and career paths including government shipping.
That hands-on experience was on full display in a letter from the ship’s Head of the Deck Department Kim Abbott read during the ceremony. Abbott thanked Edmonds and program director Evan Hastings and credited the spring 2026 trainees with projects ranging from “greasing winch cables” and “cargo winch operations” to “surface painting, preparation and painting,” “mooring line handling,” and “meal preparation and serving.” The letter also noted that apprentices helped clean throughout the ship, including bathrooms. The program treats this work as part of learning life aboard a working vessel.
Red Oak Victory Chief Engineer Greg Blasquez, who said he has worked aboard the ship for “16, 17 years,” told graduates the industry can be a fit in different ways. “You get a lot of good education. You meet a lot of good people. See a lot of the world.” Even for those who decide not to go to sea long-term, he added, “you got all that experience, you get a good job, for sure.”
Edmonds said JAMKO helps remove barriers by paying for required steps and credentials, including getting apprentices a passport and their Coast Guard-required training and documentation. “We provide the training, the tools, the resources,” she said. “We make sure that they have their credentials.”
Hastings, head of Apex Maritime Training & Consulting, told the class that graduation is “just beginning.” Citing advice from his father, he said, “there’s a ship out there for everyone.” He urged graduates to keep pushing through the next hurdles, from Coast Guard processing to deciding among unions, government shipping or private work. “No matter what, I’m always available for you by phone, text or email at any time,” he said.
West Oakland Job Resource Center Executive Director Dr. Joyce Guy, a guest speaker at the ceremony, urged graduates to stay encouraged as they enter a demanding field. “Trouble don’t last always,” she said, telling the new mariners the work can create “a pension, a future,” if they stay focused and protect their earnings.
Edmonds credited the West Oakland Job Resource Center with helping make the cohort possible, calling the organization “a phenomenal partner” that provided funding for the training and classroom space.
Hastings said the apprentices excelled in multiple areas, pointing to one milestone as proof of how hard the group worked: “Passed the knot test 100 percent—everybody tied eight out of eight knots,” he said, calling it the first time the program has seen a perfect score on the test.
In a letter written to the graduating cohort and read aloud at the ceremony, Seafarers Ministry of the Golden Gate Executive Director Robert A. Wilkins congratulated the apprentices on completing “rigorous, comprehensive training,” telling them they had advanced “into skilled professionals.”
As certificates were presented one by one, Edmonds reminded graduates that the day marked the start — not the end — of a longer journey: Building sea time, choosing a path and staying in contact as they move from training aboard the Red Oak Victory to their first assignments.
The career pathways are wide-ranging: many graduates will pursue deep sea work, traveling the globe aboard merchant vessels, while others may join ferry or tugboat operations closer to home. Starting salaries average around $65,000 annually, with the potential to surpass $100,000 within a few years.
Learn more about the Merchant Maritime Apprenticeship Program here. Questions? Call 1-877-JAMKO-54 or email [email protected].
