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I spent one year in Castine, a tiny, bucolic town down the end of a long peninsula jutting out into Penobscot Bay. That could describe a lot of towns along the coast, but Castine distinguishes itself by being home to Maine Maritime Academy, one of only six non-federal maritime training colleges in the United States.

Before having lived there, I didn't know much about the maritime industry or about mariners, apart from having a vague notion that they went to sea for months, which made the whole thing sound very old-timey and Hemingway-esque.

Then came the pandemic, and we all got a crash course in the maritime industry and international trade. Ninety percent of the world’s goods move by sea, a figure that became glaringly evident as containers stacked up in ports, waiting to meet insatiable consumer demand.

This week, Monitor contributor Jacqueline Weaver looks at the staffing crisis facing the maritime industry, which expects to be short thousands of shipboard workers in the coming years.

And on Tuesday, join us in-person or virtually for the 2024 Indigent Defense Symposium, sponsored by Maine Indigent Defense Center. Maine Monitor deputy editor Stephanie McFeeters and government accountability reporter Josh Keefe will moderate panel discussions. Register here.

— Kate

Maritime officials fear ‘catastrophic’ outcome if mariner shortage worsens

A number of factors, including the pandemic, have left the U.S. with a marked shortage of merchant mariners, who largely work on commercial ships that at times transport weaponry and supplies to the U.S. military, provide disaster relief and support international trade.

Many mariners have postponed retirement so the true magnitude of the situation has yet to be felt.

Read this story by Jacqueline Weaver.

For Mainers on one state plan, few home care coordination options remain: Citing reimbursement shortfalls, two of the three agencies in the state that pair people with in-home nursing care are no longer accepting new clients under the Section 96 MaineCare program. Read this story by Rose Lundy.

Four takeaways from our series on dams: A three-part series recently published by The Maine Monitor explored the future of Maine’s deteriorating dams as they face growing threats from climate change and fall out of favor for public investment. Here are four takeaways. Read this story by Emmett Gartner.

Mainers weigh in on the state’s electric vehicle targets — it's complicated: regular folks, who cited inadequate public charging infrastructure as a leading obstacle. Read this commentary by Tux Turkel.

DOT announces plan for “longer-term temporary bridge” in Machias: The proposal does not require federal permits or review, and construction is expected to be completed next year. Read this story by Kate Cough.

Maine rarely sanctions residential care facilities even after severe abuse or neglect incidents

From 2020 to 2022, Maine’s state health department cited residential care facilities for dozens of resident rights violations and hundreds of other deficiencies. But it has imposed only one fine in response.

Read this story by Rose Lundy. 

Know of a story that we should be digging into? Send it to our newsroom. 

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