KOCHI: Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, a university campus that can mark Kochi’s identity in maritime studies is getting ready on Willingdon Island. If everything goes as per schedule, the Kochi campus of Indian Maritime University (IMU) will be inaugurated by the end of this month.
Construction of building complexes on the campus is in full swing. ‘’We expect to shift to new premises by the end of this month with a formal inauguration,’’ said varsity authorities.
IMU Kochi campus, one of the four campuses of the Chennai-headquartered varsity, is coming up on 12.6 acres of land leased by Cochin Port Trust in the south of Willingdon Island, near to Alexander Parambithara Bridge. Kolkata, Visakhapatnam and Mumbai are the three other campuses of IMU.
Though the foundation-stone laying was held in January 2010, the campus had started functioning in the previous year itself at a temporary facility, with Diploma in Nautical Science being offered. The Cochin Port Trust has played a major role in the establishment of the IMU campus. Besides leasing its land, the Port Trust authorities also offered its Training Centre Complex to be used as the temporary facility till the new campus is ready. Other facilities of the Port Trust such as workshop, Fire Station and Port Trust Hospital are also being used by IMU for training purposes.
MBA in International Transportation & Logistics Management, BSc in Ship Building and Repair, Diploma in Nautical Science and PG Diploma in Marine Engineering are the courses currently offered on IMU, Kochi campus.
Of the 12.6 acres of land, 10 acres lie along the highway near Kundanoor bridge and the main campus, School of Maritime Management, is situated on 2.6 acres of land with a built-up area of 25,000 square feet comprising lecture halls, computer labs, library, administrative office, hostel blocks, modern kitchen, dining hall and warden’s quarters.