Great Lakes Maritime Academy

GLMA was founded in 1969 to train mates (pilots) and engineers for the commercial shipping industry. It is located on the shore of Grand Traverse Bay at Northwestern Michigan College's Great Lakes Campus, where a new facility opened in 2003 and the harbor was renovated and expanded in 2005.

The training fleet includes the T/S State of Michigan, a 224 ft former U.S. Navy T-AGOS surveillance ship (built 1986) with diesel-electric propulsion from four Caterpillar D 398 generators; the 102 ft tug Robinson Bay, built in 1958 by Christy Corporation and used for tow vessel training since 2024; a former USCG 41-foot utility boat with twin Cummins V-903M diesels; and smaller vessels and sailboats.