On the 30th Anniversary of the Azerbaijan State Maritime Academy
Eighth Article
The declaration of state independence by the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1991 opened a new page in the chronicles of Caspian shipping. On January 24, 1992, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan adopted a historic decision “On the transfer of transport and communications enterprises to the jurisdiction of the Republic of Azerbaijan.” Thus, after a 70-year hiatus, our ships began voyages again under the tricolor National Flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
However, the early years of independence were quite painful and difficult for our state, as well as for Caspian shipping. Due to the ban imposed on vessels sailing under the Azerbaijani flag from passing through Russia’s inland waterways, the Caspian Sea Shipping Company suffered a loss of approximately 3 million USD annually. The complete severing of rail links with Russia caused even greater consequences: the transit cargo flow from Baku to the Central Asian republics and Iran almost came to a halt. The imbalance between the existing tonnage and the actual cargo volume paralyzed the transport fleet, which had a total deadweight of 150,000 tons and a cargo capacity of over 16 million tons. These economic difficulties were compounded by a sharp decline in passenger transport. Notably, the bloody Armenian terrorist attack on the Sovet Kalmikiyası ferry, which operated on the Krasnovodsk (now Turkmenbashi) – Baku line, on January 8, 1992, resulting in the deaths of 25 people and injuries to 88, dealt a severe blow to passenger traffic.
This global crisis also manifested in the training of professional personnel, who ensure the seamless and quality operation of the maritime sector as a harmonious mechanism. During the Soviet era, the training of high-category maritime specialists in Azerbaijan was carried out mainly through branches of the Novorossiysk Higher Maritime School and the Odessa Institute of Marine Engineers. The Baku Maritime Routes School trained mid-level and junior crew members. However, the Baku branch of the Odessa Institute of Marine Engineers had been closed in the late 80s. Training personnel in Novorossiysk was entirely unprofitable for our republic, which was taking its first steps toward independence and facing an economic blockade. This process required significant foreign currency expenditures and was accompanied by the lack of opportunity for senior students to travel to Novorossiysk to complete their education and defend their diplomas.
The leadership of the Caspian Sea Shipping Company saw the only way out of the complex situation in the creation of a local educational institution that would ensure the training of higher-educated personnel in maritime specialties. This step also fully corresponded to the strategic line of our sovereign state. However, the appeals addressed by the Shipping leadership to relevant bodies at the time remained fruitless.
The tragic reality changed fundamentally only with the return of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev to power. The resolute position demonstrated by the countrys leader regarding the preservation of our national fleet, its efficient use, and the training of highly qualified local personnel became a true turning point in the life of the Shipping Company.
Thanks to the genius and perseverance of the National Leader, large-scale projects such as the realization of the “Contract of the Century,” the restoration of the “Great Silk Road,” and the commissioning of the Eurasia transport corridor opened wide opportunities for the Shipping Company to maintain its leading position in the Caspian, form a regional cargo transportation market, and rapidly increase cargo volume.
Parallel to this, in May 1995,
The Republic of Azerbaijan became a member of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and joined a number of important international conventions.
Finally, the problem our seafarers faced regarding higher education was also solved. The leadership of the Shipping Company appealed to the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev regarding the creation of a Maritime Academy. With the direct support of the National Leader, who knew the organization of maritime transport work to the smallest detail, the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan No. 91 on the creation of the Azerbaijan State Maritime Academy on the basis of the Baku Maritime Routes School was signed on July 15, 1996. Before long, the status of this educational institution was also confirmed on an international scale: in January 2000, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) officially recognized this higher education institution at the 30th session of the Maritime Safety Committee.
On July 1, 2000, the state examinations of the first graduates took place at the Azerbaijan State Maritime Academy. The exams showed the degree of success the graduates had achieved in their studies. Six students of the “Ship Navigation” faculty – Qabil Abbasov, Ramin Rahmanov, Yalchyn Muradov, Rovshan Hajiyev, Shamsi Salahov, and Kamran Jafarov – defended their graduation theses in English. They provided the commission members with detailed information on the comprehensive planning of voyages along routes such as Makhachkala–Neka, Makhachkala–Astrakhan, Turkmenbashi–Aktau, Aktau–Okarem, Baku–Okarem, etc., the construction of navigation routes, determining courses by the stars, and how they learned ship structure using the examples of tankers such as General Salimov, Absheron, Nariman Narimanov, Araz, and others. The commission decided to add one point to the exam grades of these graduates due to their proficiency in maritime English.
State examinations at the Maritime Academy began on July 1 and concluded on the 10th. The commission awarded bachelor’s degrees in five specialties to 80 full-time graduates, and the title of marine transport engineer to correspondence students. Three graduates finished the higher education institution with honors diplomas: Qabil Abbasov (“Ship Navigation”), Aydin Gafarov (“Technical Operation of Ship Radio Equipment”), and Elsevar Hasanov (“Ship Electrical Equipment and Automation”).
The first graduation class, preparing 158 young specialists for the maritime world, did not just confirm the success of a new educational institution; it was also an indicator that Azerbaijan had fully ensured its personnel sovereignty as an independent maritime state.
The difficult and honorable path that began with the cramped Baku maritime class in the late 19th century – 1881, where only a few students sat – led to a magnificent Academy on the threshold of the 21st century. Now, the highly qualified personnel raised by the Azerbaijan State Maritime Academy are signing their names into the shipping history of independent Azerbaijan. And this chronicle will never end, because the waves are always in motion, and the Azerbaijani seafarer is always determined!
Sevda Abdullayeva
Leading Specialist, Public Relations Department
