Senators Back Marine Scholarship Bill

A proposed law creating a scholarship for people interested in studying to work in the marine industry received enthusiastic support in a legislative hearing Tuesday.

Educators and maritime insiders told the Committee on Budget, Appropriations, and Finance of the potential growth in the marine industry, which needs skilled workers of all sorts — seagoing jobs like captains, pilots, mates and marine technicians, as well as shoreside marine industry employees like naval architects, service managers, marine surveyors, and dockyard repair experts.

Kyza Callwood, chairperson of the Virgin Islands Board of Education, said the maritime industry played a crucial role in the economic development of the Virgin Islands and threw his support behind the scholarship bill.