Indian Maritime varsity in the offing

The Ministry of Shipping is in the process of setting up an affiliating Indian Maritime University (IMU) "� probably the first of its kind in the world. It has acquired over 300 acres of land in Chennai towards this end.

D T Joseph, Advisor, Ministry of Shipping, Government of India, says: "While around the world there are many institutions calling themselves maritime universities, there is no maritime university that gives affiliation to the other independent colleges and academic institutions giving maritime education in other cities and places in that country."

IMU will be an umbrella organisation which controls all government and private colleges and will take the responsibility of awarding degrees.

"There are very few training institutes that have succeeded in getting approval for their degress and diplomas besides any affiliation with local universities. Moreover, there is no national-level professional university specialising in maritime subjects to keep the syllabus up-todate," explains Joseph.

In the initial stage, IMU will have faculties as suggested by National Maritime Academy, but in course of time it will set up separate departments or teaching cells for proposed courses.

Besides a maritime sports pavillion, the proposed maritime university will have a swimming pool of international standards "� one for cadets and the other for recreation and competition. It is also planning a well-designed accomodation on the campus.

In the course of time, even a ship could be placed in the campus, says Joseph. Wherever possible, buildings would be designed to represent marine equipment such as cranes, containers and stimulators.

At present, ships flying Indian flags number over 700 and carry over 13 million dead weight tonnes. There are 12 major ports in the country in addition to a large number of non-major public and private ports within the domain of the maritime states.

The country is witnessing an acute shortage of Indian seafarers and marine enigneers. Moreover, with the advent of privatisation, major and non-major ports are looking out for professionals to run terminals.

Though there are about 127 government-approved maritime training institutes, the country is witnessing shortage of quality officers. Interestingly, there are no professional courses specialised for the port sector. IMU will meet this need.