Monday, November 24, 2008
Chennai: All the 127 maritime institutes in the country will soon adopt a uniform fee structure for the various courses offered by them. The maritime colleges will shortly by affiliated to the Indian Maritime University - the country's first state university for maritime education.

"All the institutes offering courses in maritime studies including marine engineering and nautical science will be brought under the IMU and we will work out a uniform fee structure to remove the prevailing disparities," professor P.Vijayan, the IMU's first vice chancellor said on Sunday. The IMU, headquartered near Chennai, will have campuses in the port cities of Mumbai, Kolkata and Vishakapatnam.


The university will initially have eight departments including port management, shipping management, nautical science, maritime law, marine insurance, oceanography, marine biology and maritime studies.

Vijayan, who as director of the National Maritime Academy was the only head of a central institution to implement the 27% reservation for OBC at one go, has initiated steps for academic tie ups with reputable international maritime universities. "We will be entering into MoUs with the Dalian Maritime University in Shanghai to offer a MBA in Shipping and Port Management and with the Shanghai Maritime University for an MBA in Transportation and Logistic Management. A course in Maritime Law will be offered in collaboration with the University of Malta's International Maritime Law Institute," he said.

Courses in transportation management and dredging will be introduced in collaboration with universities in Belgium and Netherlands.

The IMU will also tie-up with the premier Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and Bangalore for offering a one-year executive fast track MBA and a four-month certificate course in management to help former seafarers land jobs. PhD programme in nautical science is also on the anvil.