BOURNE, Mass. — The Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline come into view as the ship sails into New York Harbor on calm waters. A moment later, the sky darkens, lightning flashes and the ship is rocked by roiling waves. Alarm bells warn of shallow waters or an impending collision with a massive liquefied natural gas tanker.

It’s not a real day at sea but a session in the bridge simulator at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Cape Cod, which for more than a century has been training cadets for careers in the Merchant Marine. It is one of six state maritime academies in the U.S. that felt an intimate connection to the disaster that struck the El Faro, the 790-foot cargo ship that was lost at sea last week after encountering the fury of Hurricane Joaquin east of the Bahamas.

Two graduates of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, engineers Jeffrey Mathias and Keith Griffin, were among the 33 crew members of the El Faro.

William Brennan, president of the Maine Maritime in Castine, Maine, said Thursday that Mitchell Kuflik, class of 2011, was a member of the El Faro crew, bringing the list of fatalities associated with the school to five. The others included Michael Davidson, the ship’s captain, Danielle Randolph, Mike Holland and Dylan Meklin.

A seventh school, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, differs from the state schools because it is a federal service academy operated by United States Maritime Administration and also commissions officers for the Armed Forces.

Shashi Kumar, the school’s former academic dean, said a degree from one of the academies can be critical to meet the industry’s increasingly rigorous licensing requirements.

While not a military academy, Mass Maritime – as it is often called – is clearly a regimented institution that serves a select and disciplined student population. Uniforms, 6 a.m. wakeup calls and room inspections are part of daily life for cadets, along with rigorous academic requirements.