Sea Year pause a needed step

For the second time in five years, the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point has temporarily halted its Sea Year program, which allows midshipmen to spend months at a time aboard a commercial vessel.

The smart and necessary decision came after an Academy senior accused a merchant marine engineer of raping her during her time aboard a commercial ship when she was 19. Since then, at least one other report of rape and assault during Sea Year emerged.

Academy midshipmen are unsurprisingly frustrated by the Sea Year decision. But it's a necessary step toward building a better, safer Sea Year program and a better, safer Merchant Marine Academy.

We've been down this path before. Sea Year was last suspended in 2016, with the promise of change, only for the school to find itself now back in similar waters.

This time, it seems there's more cooperation and collaboration at USMMA and beyond. Everyone — from school and government officials, company executives and the U.S. Coast Guard that regulates the ships, to other mariner programs like SUNY Maritime and the midshipmen themselves — has discussed how to improve school and ship culture, how to encourage men and women to report wrongdoing, how to rid the ships of predators, and how to broadly improve the Sea Year experience.

In those conversations and in a letter to members of Congress, midshipmen have emphasized the value of Sea Year. So, it's important to resume the program — albeit with significant improvements — quickly. In a letter to midshipmen, USMMA Superintendent Jack Buono and officials with the U.S. Department of Transportation and Maritime Administration pledged to come up with a plan that would allow sailing to resume as soon as December. That's a good goal.

Once officials release a thorough, detailed plan and Sea Year restarts, congressional representatives, the USDOT and the Coast Guard must monitor how changes are implemented and whether the academy and its commercial partners fulfill their promises. Once at sea, cadets must be reminded regularly of how they can report problems, and check-ins with school officials, family members and fellow students should be encouraged. Student training and preparation for the first Sea Year excursion is critical, as is expanded training for commercial mariners, who must also do their part.

It's been three years since Buono took the helm of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Despite some calls for his resignation, a change in leadership now would only destabilize the school further. Buono has taken the latest accusations seriously and has midshipmen support; he should be allowed to see this through.

The desire to get back to sea is understandable. But midshipmen safety must come first. Sea Year can only restart if all hands are on deck and on board with the change that's necessary to bring the Merchant Marine Academy through this storm.