Dhaka, May 6 -- With over 700 kilometres of pristine coastline and jurisdiction over a vast and resource-rich Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh stands on the threshold of huge maritime opportunity. This natural asset, coupled with the country's favourable position along some of the globe's most critical shipping routes, ought to have made maritime education a cornerstone of its development strategy. But this vast potential remains largely unrealised.

Maritime education is not an esoteric discipline of scholarly inquiry; it is a ship of sovereignty, a shield of economic power, and a stepping stone to regional prominence in the growing blue economy. As author H.G. Wells once proclaimed, "Civilisation is a race ...