An unscheduled stop this week by the training ship, the USTS General Rudder, reminds us with all pleasantness of our position as a port city.

The Texas A&M at Galveston vessel — it carried some 65 faculty and cadet crewmembers — pulled in for repairs at midweek. We welcome our visitors, including longtime mariner and faculty member 2^nd Mate Max Teare Jr., a Beaumont native who graduated the fledgling A&M program in the 1960s. His cruise mates tease him for being an ancient mariner, but his unabashed joy in the seafaring life shows saltwater flows through his veins.

The young sailors say they’ve been treated warmly in Port Arthur by the staff at the International Seafarers’ Center and by others, who have provided them with food and entertainment. In a brief stop on board, we teased the cadets about being stuck in Port Arthur; they instead spoke earnestly about local hospitality.

We do well in remembering to support our Seafarers’ Center, located in the shadow of the Port of Port Arthur. The Seafarers’ Center serves a noble cause in providing friendship to these mariners and others and in providing for their spirits and comforts.

Our Seafarers’ Center, eight decades in service to mariners, is rated highly among them — and should be. We owe much to those who move merchandise through our busy ports and help keep the world’s commerce flowing.

The Seafarers’ Center brought the young cadets’ A&M superintendent, Rear Admiral (Ret.) Michael J. Rodriguez, to Port Arthur during the week of National Maritime Day. In speaking to the Seafarers’ Center local supporters, he noted the need for better and more appropriate training vessels for the Maritime Academy program in Galveston, one of six maritime academies in the U.S.

It’s no longer a young program, as it was during Max Teare’s schooling five decades ago, but has evolved into a program that serves more than 500 students and provides highly trained, professional deck and engine officers who serve on the oceans and inland waters.

Teare and Chief Mate Kate Fossati of Victoria, also on faculty, said larger vessels would better serve mariners’ training than the 242-foot General Rudder —perhaps a vessel or vessels twice that size. State and federal officials should be urged to recognize and satisfy that need.

Nonetheless, we in Port Arthur should take some pride in local hospitality to these sailors and others who work and rest at our port. The Rev. Sinclair Oubre, Apostleship of the Sea pastor here, said on National Maritime Day that seafaring, largely conducted at the edge of town, may be marginalized in the public’s mind. But every vessel that passes our sea wall reminds us of their important missions, and why we should support the men and women who sail on them.