Captain William DouglasCaptain William Douglas is Director of the Center for Maritime Education's Houston Facility. A master mariner (unlimited) with command experience, Capt. Douglas has logged more than 20 years experience at sea and in shore side maritime operations. He has recently completed a thesis on maritime training simulations in fulfillment of the requirements for a Master's Diploma in Technology Post School Education (similar to a degree in Adult Education) from the Cape Technikon in Cape Town, South Africa. He has published educational software and professional articles including "Simulation, Work or Play?" in the September 1995 issue of Safety at Sea International.
Captain Henry E. Cummings
Captain Henry Cummings is an instructor at SCI's maritime education facility in Houston, TX. Prior to joining SCI, Captain Cummings was Senior Port Captain and an Operations Officer at XL Marine in Paducah, KY. For two years he was responsible for managing navigation and crewing concerns, supervising chemical tows on the Ohio River, and investigating all vessel incidents and reporting findings to management.
He went to Paducah after working for Kirby Inland Corporation where he started in 1999 as a Training Captain. Three years later, Captain Cummings was promoted to Port Captain and managed the Hot Oil Division by training crews in leadership and piloting skills. At Kirby he investigated all vessel incidents in the up-river regions. His reports on incidents to management included root cause analysis and he was responsible for reviewing corrective action with the crews. He received extensive crisis management experience working the Night Vessel Duty desk for over 150 vessels.
Captain Cummings started his maritime career at Chotin Transportation and served there for 23 years. As a Training Captain, he educated River Pilots and installed the company's radar program. A 1976 graduate of the National River Academy, Captain Cummings holds the sixth issuance of his Inland and Western Rivers Operators License. With over 31 years of maritime experience, Captain Cummings has over 100,000 hours of Underway Command Experience.
Captain Stephen Polk
Captain Stephen Polk is an instructor at SCI’s maritime education facility in Houston, TX. Before joining SCI, he was a Senior Port Captain for Kirby Inland Marine, LP and managed several types of inland towing vessels in the Canal Division. Captain Polk is a certified Crew Endurance Management System (CEMS) expert and has taught several courses. He holds a third issue of his 3rd Mates unlimited oceans license and recently earned his Master of Towing Vessel and 300 ton Master-Oceans endorsement on his license.
A veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Captain Polk served in the US Navy with two patrol boat units. As a Lieutenant Commander (LCDR), he has worked in various leadership and supervisory roles such as Tactical Communications Officer, Training Department Head, and Operations Department Head for both of the patrol boat units he was assigned to. Captain Polk has also logged over 10,000 hours of tactical and underway command experience while protecting ports and performing escorts of MSC and Navy warships in and out of various harbors worldwide.
Captain Polk started in the maritime as an Able-Seaman (A.B.) for Polar Tankers and as a Third Mate and working in the TAPS trade moving crude oil from Valdez, AK to various ports along the west coast of the United States. He is a 1997 graduate of Texas A&M University at Galveston and holds a B.S. in Marine Transportation.