Empire State VII

Empire State VII is a training ship owned by the United States Maritime Administration and operated by SUNY Maritime College. She is the first vessel in the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) class and has replaced the 1961-built Empire State VI. The new training ship is the seventh vessel to carry the name Empire State for the SUNY Maritime College but its first purpose-built new build. The previous training ships had been converted cargo or military vessels. (While SUNY refers to the ship as Empire State VII, and US Coast Guard regulations allow use of Roman numerals in a ship name, the vessel displays her name as "Empire State" without a numeral.)

The preliminary and basic NSMV design was developed by the Herbert Engineering Corp. of Alameda, California, and the rest of the design was completed by DSEC headquartered in Busan, Korea. While primarily a training ship the NSMV class is also to be equipped for disaster relief: a Roll-on/Roll-off side ramp, container space and crane, and a helipad.

The contract for the first two NSMV vessels was signed with Philly Shipyard (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) in April 2020 with anticipated delivery in Spring of 2023. Steel cutting for the first vessel began in December 2020. Its keel was laid on 10 December 2021 and launched on 24 September 2022. The vessel was delivered to the SUNY's pier on 18 September 2023.