# Bangladesh Marine Academy

Bangladesh Marine Academy is a regimental maritime training academy for the officer cadet of merchant navy, located in Chittagong, Bangladesh. This academy develops and trains marine officer cadets national & foreign flagged ships engaged in international voyages. After 2 years acamdemic training and 1 year onboard training in ship as a trainee officer (deck cadet/cadet engineer) and by passing promotional exam they become merchant marine officer of foreign and national ships of Bangladesh .
It has a Partnering Relation with World Maritime University (WMU), Malmö, Sweden since 2019 (was a Branch of WMU since 1990 till 2019) and also has an affiliation for Bachelor of Maritime Science /Marine Engineering Degree course for the Pre-Sea Cadets with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, Bangladesh. Its training activity and education is recognized by IMO (UN), European Union (EMSA), British Merchant Navy Training Board, Nautical Institute London & Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) London, Global Maritime Education and Training association (Australia) and has ISO 9001:2015 Quality Certificate by DNV-GL.

## History

The world was rapidly changing after WWII (1939–45). West Pakistan along with East Bengal (Bangladesh) became independent from British rule in 1947. The Pakistan Government at the time looked into developing industrial training facilities. A scheme for establishing a marine academy beside the Bay of Bengal was sanctioned in 1952. Juldia Point (valleys of Juldia-Rangadia) at the Karnaphuly river-mouth at Bay of Bengal was chosen for the planned academy due to its 'ship-like environment'. The geographic location of this facility was unique in the country and was not available to other Suez to South-East Asian countries. (Project Plan – Development of Marine Academy, Phase – II [1973-1980])
The construction of basic infrastructure commenced. Its initial budget was Taka 31.19 lakhs in 1952, which increased to Taka 53 lakhs in 1959 and to Taka 58.3 lakhs in 1961. The initial project was completed with the objective of training 22 Nautical Cadet Officers and 22 Marine Engineering Cadet Officers. The new-built 'Mercantile Marine Academy' began on 3 September 1962.
During the Great Liberation War in 1971, the then Pakistan Government shifted the academy's function to Karachi, abandoning this academy. Immediately after the war, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman resumed it as a Marine Academy with appointing Capt. (Merchant Marine) M L Rahman as its Commandant (first Bangladeshi Commandant). Bangabandhu began a project titled "Development of Marine Academy (1973-1980)" to raise the academy at the forefront of maritime professional excellence in South Asia.
The Bangladesh Government has recently established four more Marine Academies in Barisal, Pabna, Sylhet and Rangpur of Bangladesh which commenced in 2021.

## Courses
### BSc courses

* BSc in Nautical Science
4 year Bachelor of Maritime Science
* Pre-Sea Nautical Science:24 months at Academy (1-4 semester)
* On Board Training: 12 months sea-service (5-6 semester)
* 1 year in academy (7-8 semester)
* BSc in Marine Engineering
4 years Bachelor of Maritime Science
* Pre-Sea Marine Engineering:24 months at Academy (1-4 semester)
* On-Board Training: 12 months sea service (5-6 semester)
* 1 year in academy under (7–8 semester)

### Preparatory courses

* Preparatory Course for Deck Officer Class I (Orals)
* Preparatory Course for Deck Officer Class II & I
* Preparatory Course for Deck Officer Class III
* Preparatory Course for Deck Officer Class IV (Orals)
* Preparatory Course for Deck Officer Class IV & V

### IMO model courses

* Personal Survival Techniques (PST)
* Elementary First Aid (EFA)
* Fire Prevention & Fire Fighting (FP&FF)
* Personal Safety & Social Responsibilities (PSSR)
* Proficiency in Survival Craft &Rescue Boats (PSC&RB)
* Advanced Fire Fighting (AFF)
* Global Maritime Distress & Safety System (GMDSS)
* Standard Swimming Test (SST)
* Radar and ARPA
* Training for Trainer

## Campus

The campus area is 100 acres. The campus includes:
* Two jetties at both side of river Karnaphuly.
* Parade ground, football grounds, basketball grounds, volleyball grounds.
* Cadet Block and post-sea block, Commandant's house, Instructors' houses
* Separate dining hall for cadets and instructors.
* Admin block, Instructional block, Eletro-navigational block, Workshop, auditorium
* Marine Academy primary School, Marine academy School and College
* Swimming pool, lake, recreation hill.
* Bangladesh Maritime Museum, Seafarers' Memorial

## Academic facilities
### Simulators

Presently there are two types of simulators:
* GMDSS
* Radar and Arpa Simulator With ECDIS
* Bridge room simulator

### Laboratories

* Electrical Lab
* Mechanical Lab
* Physics Lab
* Computer Lab
* Pneumatic Lab

### Workshops

There are two workshops with various machineries

### Other facilities

* Fire fighting center
* Auditorium
* Training boats
* Swimming pool
* Football ground
* Basketball ground

## Notable alumni

* Abdul Awal Mintoo -graduated 1968.
* Azizul Islam - is a Bangladeshi flutist. He was awarded Ekushey Padak by the government of Bangladesh in the music category in 2017
* Captain M. Zakaria - Capt. Zakaria served as a chairman of Chittagong Port Authority from 16 July 1990 to 20 July 1991
* Captain Zahir Uddin Mahmood - Capt. Zahir served as a chairman of Chittagong Port Authority from 24 March 1995 to 25 June 1997. He also served as a Chairman MPA, Singapore.
* Marine Chief Engineer Zafrul Alam - Marine Engineer Zafrul served as an assistant director in MPA Singapore. He was the legend Mariner and also faculty member of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is a recipient of three National Day Awards in Singapore. He was awarded Efficiency Medal 1992, Public Administration Medal (Bronze), 2002 and The Long Service Medal 2006.
* Captain Moin Ahmed - Capt. Moin Ahmed is the Special Envoy to the Minister of Shipping, Government of Bangladesh Marine Policy Expert. Until 14 April 2023 he served as the Director General of the International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO). He holds a Certificate of Competency as Master Mariner and an MSc degree in Shipping Management (Technical) from the World Maritime University.