Tabor graduate chosen to captain Mass Maritime schooner

BUZZARDS BAY — William Sabatini has been named the new executive director and senior captain of Massachusetts Maritime Academy's historic 1894 schooner, the SSV Ernestina-Morrissey.

In his new position, Sabatini will be responsible for overseeing operations and management and serving as captain during the sailing season, with assistance from a season captain as necessary.

The captain has been sailing around the globe for more than three decades, and the job brings him closer to home. A native of Cape Cod, he is a graduate of Tabor Academy and the Maine Maritime Academy.

 The SSV Ernestina-Morrissey is a fishing schooner that was first launched in 1894, certified by the United States Coast Guard as a sailing school vessel and a passenger vessel.

She has sailed within 600 miles of the North Pole, helped with transatlantic commerce between New England and Cape Verde and was gifted to the U.S. in 1982 as a gift from the newly independent Cape Verde. The ship's home port is in New Bedford.

“I’m honored to be selected as Captain of this storied ship,” said Sabatini in a press release.  “I look forward to working with new generations of mariners and allowing them to experience this historical chapter of sea life, while growing our programs and preparing for a voyage back to Cape Verde.”

The ship will help with undergraduate sail-training and leadership training for cadets, K-12 STEM programming and community outreach.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have Captain Sabatini join the Academy team in this role,” said James McKenna, Dean of Undergraduate Studies at Massachusetts Maritime Academy.  “In addition to his sailing and sail training acumen, Captain Sabatini's enthusiastic commitment to embracing the significance of the Ernestina-Morrissey and her history and peoples is infectious. He is an outstanding collaborator, creative thinker, and passionate mariner.”