Marine Academy & Merchant Marine: F. R. Chowdhury (1N)
Dear mariner colleagues,
When I was in school, I knew many people with many different professions. I did not know any merchant navy officer. Very few people in the then East Pakistan knew about it. We knew lot of ratings working on foreign going ships. We knew them as Khalasis. The senior most rating used to be known as Serang. In the villages most people would know a Serang’s house. Serang used to be quite well to do and a respected person. Some time we asked them as to how they navigate from one place to another. They would answer, “White officers navigate the ship. Very recently some Pakistanis (West) were also coming as officers”. We later came to know just a few East Pakistanis as merchant marine officers. The number was very negligible. In a way we can say that we did not know much about it. This was comparable to jobs in tea gardens. There were British (mostly Scottish) managers and after independence of Pakistan, a few West Pakistanis with high connections in the society joined as Trainee Manager. Though the plantation was in East Pakistan, yet, we did not know about those job opportunities. This was another field about which we knew very little.
In 1959, I read in the newspaper that the Government of Pakistan was going to establish a marine academy and that it would be located at Chittagong. It was perhaps in December 1960 that the Pakistan Public Service Commission advertised for recruitment of cadets. Minimum qualification required was Matriculation/ SSC (at least 2nd division). This is how the Central PSC used to select young boys under British scholarship for cadet training programme in the UK. I applied; and in June, 1961, I was told that recruitment would now be done by the Directorate General of Ports & Shipping and that my application was therefore, forwarded there. It was in early 1962 that DGP&S advertised for recruitment of cadets and this time the minimum qualification requirement was HSC/ ISC/ FSC. I applied again. I later came to know that all persons who applied earlier to PPSC were also called directly for interview. This is how the first batch had two cadets who had not passed HSC. I went through the complete process of selection and joined the academy as first batch of Nautical Cadets. If I remember correct, the Commandant performed the brief opening ceremony and the academy went into operation on Monday, 3rd September, 1962.
As we joined sea, people in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) came to know about career at sea. As a cadet I was on leave and went to somebody’s house in Comilla and the first question they asked me as to how many years it would take for me to become a Serang. Gradually more and more cadets joined sea and some people also joined directly or through ex-navy or ex-fisheries. Today we have come a long way. Hundreds of Bangladeshis are sailing on ships under different flags as officers. We have senior officers employed ashore in Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Middle-East, UK and Europe, Australia and finally USA and Canada.
You have to congratulate the first batch of cadets who ventured into this without knowing much about it. We, the first batch can be proud of it. This history belongs to us. Very soon (just one month) we will celebrate another anniversary of the establishment of the marine academy. I attach a piece of history – picture of those cadets and their teachers with whom the Academy started its journey.
London 03-August-2021
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