Maritime Heritage and Bangladesh Marine Academy
The Bangladesh Marine Academy draws on the country’s rich marine heritage to develop world-class maritime leaders. Commandant Sajid Hussain details the nation’s ‘glorious past’ and shows how the Academy is adapting to meet the challenges of the future.
Glorious past
In the 13th century, the Sultan of Turkey imported 13 sailing vessels from Bangladesh. In the 14th century Ibne Batuta came to the sub-continent and went back with a wooden ship named Jank, made by local builders at Sonargaon, Dhaka. Frederick came to Bangladesh in 1567 and found some wooden sailing vessels that could cross 100 miles in 8 hours. Some vessels (snoop ships) made in Bangladesh were used by Portuguese in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. In the 18th century Germany imported one sailing vessel from Bangladesh named Deutsche Fregatte 1818. It is still displayed at the Bremer Havn shipbuilding museum. Wooden shipbuilding industries were developed here during last few centuries due to availability of trees like segun (teak), jarul and shishu, especially in the Chattogram area. Traditional and safe shampan country-boats are still built in Chattogram.
The main entrance to the Academy
Maritime Bangladesh
The maritime country Bangladesh is criss-crossed by over 3,500 rivers, streams and canals with a length of about 24,000km, covering nearly 7% of the country’s land surface. Three major rivers (Padma, Meghna and Jamuna) with their tributaries and distributaries form one of the largest networks of waterways in the world. There are about 8,300 km of navigable waterways in Bangladesh and nearly 7,000 registered inland vessels ply in these waterways. The major rivers also form the world’s largest delta.
For centuries, Bangladesh has naturally been a maritime country. As a signatory of the UNCLOS since 2001, in establishing sovereignty in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh could settle the dispute with Myanmar in 2012 and with India in 2014 and finally won 118,813 sq. km of area at the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).
Right after the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, starting from nothing in 1972 the number of Bangladesh merchant fleet of oceangoing ships steadily rose to 32 by 1982. Although there was a slight fall during the ‘80s and ‘90s, the number has increased in the last few years. Now the Bangladesh merchant fleet stands at 63 oceangoing ships. This fleet comprises of bulk carriers, cargo ships, container ships and petroleum tankers. Additionally, there are over 30 ships of Bangladeshi owners that are registered in foreign countries.
'Towards Sea', a sculpture at the Academy
Bangladesh Marine Academy
State-owned Bangladesh Marine Academy (BMA) is propelling at full-speed ahead, spreading brilliant maritime education for five decades and producing competent nautical and engineering cadets and officers with professional, academic and leadership skills for national and international shipping fleets, as well as for shore-based management. Having a partnering relation with the World Maritime University in Sweden and ISO 9001:2015 Certificate from DNV-GL, and recognised by UK MNTB, the IMarEST and NI, EU EMSA and MPA Singapore, BMA prides itself on ‘developing world-class maritime leaders’. Its Bachelor Degree equips male and female cadets with the right training for entry into seafaring.
A student uses a simulator at the Academy
BMA has transitioned from ‘traditional to digital’, with various e-learning based educational facilities installed in the last 10 years. It upgraded the Cadets’ Bachelor of Maritime Science 3-years’ PASS degree course into a 4-year Honours course in 2015, and also introduced an MSc in Maritime Science in 2018 in collaboration with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University (BSMRMU), Bangladesh. The current initiatives include earning recognition from UK MCA, a collaboration with Southampton Solent University in the UK, establishing a Research Centre and procuring a Full-mission Deck/Engine Simulator at BMA.
The Bangabandhu Techno Marina complex, planned for 2022
Bangladesh Prime Minister H E Sheikh Hasina has made shipping/ marine a priority task, and initiated and established Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University in 2013 based on the 1998 thesis of Commandant Sajid Hussain (A Proposal for Establishment of a Maritime University in Bangladesh). Recognising international demand for seafarers, she has initiated four more state-owned Marine Academies that are commencing in 2021.
With marine engineer, Trustee and Council Member of the IMarEST Commandant Sajid CEng CMarEng FIMarEST (recipient of IMarEST’s Outstanding Contribution to Marine Education Award 2018) at the helm for over a decade, the Academy has a strong relationship with the IMarEST and is generously sponsoring the yearly flagship event – the 117th Annual Dinner of the IMarEST – on 25 March 2022 as the Bronze Sponsor.
Dr. Sajid Hussain CEng CMarEng FIMarEST FIAMSP, Commandant, Bangladesh Marine Academy