Marek Grzybowski write to ” eBlue Economy “”: Maritime University – 100 years of maritime education

The beginning of the new academic year ceremony took place at the beginning of October this year. Students and professors of the Maritime University and invited guests were on the training ship “Dar Młodzieży” and at the pier of the Port of Gdynia.

– This year is unusual due to many circumstances. We have a century of our activity – we started educating exactly in 1920.  1,500 students begin the new academic year, and today representatives of all faculties participate in the inauguration – said Master Mariner Adam Weintrit, Prof. Eng., Rector of Gdynia Maritime University.

The Gdynia Maritime University is one of the largest maritime universities in the European Union. Research and education are provided by the University in 4 faculties: Navigation, Mechanical, Electrical, and Entrepreneurship and Commodity Science. The celebration was broadcast by the internet due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

– The Maritime University is an important university for the city of Gdynia, educating not only in maritime faculties but also for the economy of our city and region – said Wojciech Szczurek, Mayor of Gdynia.

Gdynia Maritime University is the oldest Polish shipowner. The first school ship was the sailing ship Lwów. He had the Polish flag from September 1921. It was a year after the founding of the Polish Maritime School. She was built in England in 1869 as one of the first steel passenger and cargo vessels as frigate Chinsura.

with the main sailing drive. The new sailing ship began its sea service in 1930. The training ship Dar Pomorza was built in 1909 at the Blohm und Voss shipyard in Hamburg. Dar Pomorza sailed around the world, covering 39,000 nautical miles in the years 1934-1935.

Dar Pomorza, called the White Frigate,  took part in The Tall Ships Races. On August 21 at 8.24 a Polish training ship was the first to cross the finish line of the regatta. It was a great, victorious debut of the Polish sailing ship. Within her 51 years in the school “Dar Pomorza” took 102 school cruises, covering half a million sea miles. About 13,400 students of the Maritime School were trained on her decks. She has been a museum ship since 1982. She is moored in the center of Gdynia. The ship is visited by over 120 thousand. tourists every year.

The training ship Dar Młodzieży has been operating since 1982. She was designed and built-in Gdańsk Shipyard. Dar Młodzieży was on a cruise from Gdynia to Osaka, Japan in 1983. There were 119 young students of the Faculty of Navigation on board.

Dar Młodzieży participated in the regatta on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the expedition of the French sailor Jacques Cartier in 1984. The sailing ship won the competition on the Brest – Las Palmas – Hamilton and Hamilton – Halifax routes.

Dar Młodzieży sailed around the globe in 2018-2019. About 1,000 people from all over Poland took part in the sea voyage. 23 ports in 18 countries around the world were visited. The training ship Horyzont II entered service in 2000. Short sea cruises on the Baltic Sea for students of the Maritime University and maritime high schools, and two 3-4-week cruises to the Arctic take place every year.

This year the studies will take place in a hybrid form. Lectures will be held online over the Internet. The exercises will take place in laboratories and simulators with due care. About 5,000 students started their studies at 4 faculties of the Maritime University. Maritime University graduates work on ships, offshore installations, as managers in shipping companies, ports, shipyards, and other maritime industries.

photos: Marek Grzybowski