ABSTRACT
After the second world war, the reconstruction of the Polish maritime sector was hampered by a lack of trained personnel and the absence of a maritime tradition. The Nautical College in Szczecin was established on September 11th 1962 to cater for the planned increase in size of the bulk shipping operator PZM over the coming years, along with increased activity in Szczecin Port from increased transit and shipbuilding. The Higher School of Economics Sopot actually specialised in maritime economics despite its more general name and emerged from the Maritime Institute of the Western Territories University in 1942 which was an underground institution of Poland during the war. Vocational training was always an important part of maritime education in Poland under Communism. Czechoslovak students studied at Gdynia because there was no maritime education in their home country. Practical training was particularly important and began before the students were admitted to the course with a four week trial on-board a training vessel.
