The Whatcom Working Waterfront Foundation’s Northwest Maritime Apprenticeship is helping to fill a hole in the maritime industry.
Marine service technicians are tradespeople who maintain, repair and install vessels that are under 150 feet long. In October 2022, the Waterfront Foundation launched the apprenticeship to reinvigorate the maritime industry with a new generation of marine service technicians.
The four-year apprenticeship has three levels, each costing $1500 tuition. Currently, 16 apprentices are enrolled in the program: eight at level one, four at level two and four at level three. The program contains 12 subjects, including math, design and business practices. Students graduate from the apprenticeship as fully certified Marine Service technicians.
As a registered apprenticeship, students need to be employed in the industry to earn their on-the-job training hours. The principle of the apprenticeship is to allow students to work and make a living in the maritime industry while also receiving an education in the field.
“You can work and earn a living wage and not spend thousands and thousands of dollars to go to a college for a degree you may or may not use,” said Sierra Oliver, apprenticeship program director.
Once a month, students do a full-day workshop. Once a week, they do two hours of classroom learning. Because instructors and students both work day jobs in the maritime industry, student Talia Piper said the lectures are different from the kind she had in high school.
“You’re more collaborating with this person [the instructor] about boat stuff,” Piper said.
There’s been a shortage of operational manpower in the marine industry for years. Low visibility and an aging workforce are among the factors responsible for this.
Northwest Maritime Apprenticeship students gather around, as a boat is lifted during instruction. Students experience hands-on workshop time once a month and lectures once a week. // Photo courtesy of Sierra Oliver
“The whole maritime sector is a bit under the radar,” said Deb Granger, apprenticeship program coordinator. “That’s what we’re trying to do, is shine a spotlight on the fabulous and interesting and exciting occupations that are down here.”
In 2019, the Waterfront Coalition surveyed all of its members and discovered their biggest need was for workers. This is when they formed the Whatcom Working Waterfront Foundation, which develops education and training for the waterfront.
They looked up and down the West Coast for an apprenticeship model they could use, and they found one in Sidney, B.C., with the Quadrant Marine Institute’s Marine Service Technician training program. The Waterfront Foundation leased that program and brought it to Bellingham in 2022.
Liz Nienaber, the Quadrant Marine Institute’s training coordinator and community partnership facilitator said she thinks it’s amazing their model has spread to other places.
“You’re actually learning in a more well-rounded and holistic way and you get that certification — that paper — at the end that says ‘I know what I’m talking about; this is what I do,’” Nienaber said.
The program is approved in five counties: Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, Island and San Juan. Oliver said she’d like to see the apprenticeship become statewide.
This summer, the Waterfront Foundation is partnering with the Lummi Nation to form a pre-apprenticeship program called Buoyant Beginnings. This will help unemployed, underemployed and precariously employed people aged 16-29 to gain hands-on exposure in the maritime industry.
“Other ideas for growth? I think the sky is the limit,” Granger said. “We’re just limited right now by bandwidth and people.”
During an Oct. 29 lecture from Sean Madden on metal boat construction, Northwest Maritime Apprenticeship students Talia Piper, Walter Fitzgibbon, Matthew Sutherland and Ben Oliver listen intently. Apprenticeship students take one evening class per week as part of their technical training. //Photo by Hope Rasa.
Hope Rasa (she/her) is a City News reporter for The Front this quarter. She is a second-year Western student majoring in news/editorial journalism. She enjoys running, hiking, reading and spending time with her cat. You can reach her at hoperasa.thefront@gmail.com.
