Cadet on Commercial Sea Term Helps Dock TS Kennedy in Tampa    

On Sunday, July 2, junior Marine Transportation major Jacob Zahorsky ‘25, on board the tug Endeavor, helped dock the TS Kennedy in Tampa as part of his summer internship with Marine Towing of Tampa. The arrival of the TS Kennedy in Tampa marked the end of the second leg of Summer Sea Term 2023. While sophomore and senior cadets sail each summer on the TS Kennedy, junior cadets have the opportunity to do a commercial sea term with a company instead of the university. 

For Zahorsky, choosing to study marine transportation at Texas A&M University at Galveston was easy. As the only maritime academy on the Gulf Coast, it was the closest maritime academy to his home state of Florida, and having grown up on the water, he knew that he would pursue his passion for the maritime industry professionally from a young age. “My father is a tugboat captain,” Zahorsky said. “I knew that’s what I wanted to do when I got older, and that’s what made me apply to the maritime academy.” 

The internship allows Zahorsky to put his skills to the test in a real-world environment, and his experience learning from professionals in the industry is invaluable. “The crew aboard these vessels have been extremely helpful whether it’s working out on deck or helping me learn the navigation systems on the vessels,” he said. “If there is anything I need or am not familiar with, I know I can ask the crew around the vessels to help and they would be more than willing to do so.”

Zahorsky’s day starts in the early morning, and largely depends on the ship traffic in the bay. As to his job duties, “If there is no ship movement throughout the bay, deck work happens and this can range from painting, chipping or moving equipment around the boat in preparation for the next job,” he said. “If there is ship movement in the bay, I will help on deck grabbing the lines and sending up the working line to the ships.”

As for docking the TS Kennedy? “It was awesome. It was fun watching the ship come up the channel and seeing all the cadets lining the rails of the vessel.” 

After graduation, Zahorsky plans to work offshore with a shipping company, and eventually, after sailing and acquiring sea time, he wants to test for a harbor pilot license.