Maritime ship scratched from quake duty

Nearly 600 cadets from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy were told yesterday that their “Sea Term’’ would end early and that their ship, the T.S. Kennedy, would be dispatched to assist in the Haitian earthquake relief effort.

The 15,000-ton vessel, originally bound for Curaçao, turned around and headed for Fort Lauderdale to take on supplies for the mission.

But seven hours later, while the ship was off the tip of Florida, federal authorities rescinded the order. For the cadets, it was a day of excitement followed by a return to normalcy.

“The cadets are disappointed that they will be unable to provide assistance, but they will get to resume their planned Sea Term,’’ said Rear Admiral Richard Gurnon, president of the Bourne academy. “But I’m very proud of them. They immediately said ‘yes, sir’ and turned the ship around. Sea Term is something they prepare a whole year for, and they dropped it immediately to come to the aid of the Haitian relief effort.’’

Officials had planned to outfit the Kennedy as a floating motel anchored off the coast of Haiti to provide hundreds of relief workers with hot meals, showers, and safe beds as they rotate in and out of the devastated nation. The underclassmen would have been flown back to Massachusetts, according to the plan, with the seniors remaining on the ship, earning the hours at sea they need to graduate this spring.

Instead, the USS Bataan, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, is on its way to Haiti, with a Marine expeditionary unit, 1,700 rescuers, and their equipment.

Training vessels are often used during catastrophes. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when the T.S. Kennedy was under repair, three training vessels from other maritime academies were deployed to the Gulf of Mexico for similar duties, Gurnon said.

John Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com.