SEA, PORT and harbour need not be essential requisites for a town to offer maritime courses. Even though having a ship in Madurai is not possible, students have been successfully sailing out of an institution after completing marine engineering and nautical sciences courses. And they land in a career in merchant navy after pre-sea training courses.

The R. L. Institute of Nautical Sciences is an institution approved by the Directorate-General of Shipping, Government of India and an off-campus centre of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani. The private maritime institute is a fully residential one located on a 60-acre campus on the Aruppukottai Road near the Madurai airport. Theory classes are offered here while practicals and on-sea training are conducted at Tuticorin and Kochi ports. The RLINS, started by the Subbulakshmi Lakshmipathy Foundation, is accredited with the latest version of safety standard-ISO 9001:2000.

"The Government of India concurred with the view that maritime education need not be just confined to the coastal belt. It wanted institutions to come up in non-coastal areas also with adequate arrangements with neighbouring ports for practical training to students," says M. Subramanian, principal, talking about the institute.

The two most important courses offered here are a four-year residential B.S. (Maritime Engineering) Programme in collaboration with the BITS, Pilani, which awards the degrees and a three-year B. Sc. Nautical Sciences programme in collaboration with Alagappa University, Karaikudi. Only one batch has passed out so far from this young institute.

"Every semester, the boys are taken to nearby ports on industrial visits and our emphasis is on making them qualify for the merchant navy that has good career prospects," the principal explains and stresses that "what we offer is not a distant learning programme of the BITS but regular courses from an off-campus centre and on their behalf." Admissions are open only for boys for the 120 seats for the marine engineering course. Students in the 17-20 age group, after completing their Plus Two with 60 per cent aggregate in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry and 50 per cent marks in English are eligible to apply. Shipping companies are invited to hold a campus recruitment for the successful candidates.

The institute also offers value-added courses that "make our student fully equipped when he boards the ship. Fire-fighting and first-aid on the ship are taught." Graduates who pass out of the maritime institute can work on any ship — cargo, passenger, container and tanker. They can sail on any ship, says V. Prabakaran, Coordinator, Admissions.

Though the institute admits only boys at present, the management is likely to admit girls also from next year, the principal says. "There is a good demand from girl students for maritime courses." A four-year B.S. Nautical Technology course in collaboration with BITS is under consideration, according to Mr. Prabakaran.

Ship on campus

To give the students a `live ship experience,' the institute is now on a major project of having a `concrete mock ship' on the campus. The ship — T. S. Meenakshi — would have all that is available on board a normal ship with all machinery in operating condition. "An atmosphere of

working in a ship will be there for the students," the principal says. "It will be interesting to have a ship on land." The project is being implemented with the guidance of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. Simulated conditions are to be created on the land ship with instructors and engineers to guide the students.

Mr. Prabakaran says the institute assists in finding out good placements for the cadets. The institute president, R. Lakshmipathy, says that his ambition is to elevate it into a Maritime Deemed University in future.