School of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, GMU

The Indian Maritime sector has been consistently exhibiting strong growth and is slated to be the maritime market of the future. The establishment of Gujarat Maritime University (GMU) is an endeavour by the Government of Gujarat through Gujarat Marit by the Government of Gujarat through Gujarat Maritime Board to provide a fillip to this growth by bridging the knowledge gap within the industry. The prime objective of Gujarat Maritime University is to be a global center of excellence in maritime education, research and development, professional training and it aims to enhance and increase the human capital and capacity of maritime industry both in India and across the globe. The aspiration is to serve the global maritime community by producing educated and well trained professionals in the maritime domain. In the first phase, the University plans to offer programs catering to the commercial aspects of Maritime value chain like maritime law, shipping finance and economics, maritime management, logistics, ship broking, ship finance, chartering, ship management just to name a few. The first phase will also have short term Executive Development Programs and Management Development Programs. The second phase will focus on the technical aspects. To be a global center of excellence in maritime education, research and development, professional training with an aim to enhance the capacity of maritime industry both in India and across the globe To provide world class education focused on areas across the value chain of the maritime industry To empower students to excel in global maritime industry through an interdisciplinary approach to learning To address the challenges of the industry and encourage innovation through cutting-edge research and collaboration with industry To serve the global maritime community by producing educated and well trained individuals. Breathing the rich tradition of pillaring its core values on peace, cooperation, non-violence and the spirit of tolerance, the Gujarat Maritime Board was set up in 1982 with the vision to harness the potential of the Gujarat ports for domestic and international trade. Its culture finds its extension in its inclusive policies and performance that is evident in the response the Vibrant Gujarat global summits have been receiving. Being at the cross-roads of trade route on land and water, Gujarat, with its 1600 km stretch has occupied a central place connecting various civilizations, cultures, languages and business people, pilgrims and tourists. These commercial networks with overseas regions, found quite a mention in M N Pearson’s ‘Merchants and Rulers in Gujarat: The Response of the Portuguese in the Sixteenth Century’. As a world-renowned maritime historian, he stated that, “Gujarat has been an economically advanced area for three millennia with an active dynamic group of merchants… And in this inner Asian trade it was the Gujaratis, not Arabs who were dominant.” (Delhi, 1976 pp 10; 124) Hence, even historically, ports have not only facilitated the exchange of goods but also of ideas, ideologies and world religions, while giving life to the maritime culture. Going along the same route that traders traded for the longest time, we start with the oldest and the most frequented ports of Gujarat to reach today, where we stand as an entirety of economic development.