Marine Transportation Majors

The Department of Marine Transportation offers three majors: Marine Transportation, Maritime Operations and Technology, and Logistics and Intermodal Transportation. These majors all share a common nautical science and business core.

Nautical science courses prepare midshipmen specifically for their shipboard responsibilities and the third mate's license examination. The Nautical Science core also provides broad marine-oriented education to produce a well-trained and informed ship's officer. This course of study includes general as well as specific maritime subjects which familiarize midshipmen with a ship as a system, its equipment and operation. Also covered are physical, economic, environmental and regulatory concerns. Specifically, midshipmen will study navigation and the rules for collision avoidance, naval architecture, materials handling, shipboard and portside cargo operations, safety of life at sea, pollution control, meteorology and oceanography, and the various domestic and international rules and regulations that govern these activities.

Maritime business courses give midshipmen a broad understanding of management issues and specific skills required for management decision making. These skills complement the professional education of midshipmen and strengthen their performance as shipboard officers. Midshipmen also gain a basic foundation in business administration allowing them to pursue shoreside opportunities in the maritime field. The curriculum recognizes that marine transportation is part of the total transportation system, which is crucial to both domestic and international commerce, and the nation's defense. The specific courses in this area include Principles of Logistics and Transportation, Economics, Management, Marketing, Business and Maritime Law, Accounting and Finance, and International Business and Ocean Shipping.

Marine Transportation Program
The Marine Transportation major builds on this business core which offers additional courses for those students planning a shoreside career in the maritime industry. Most of the courses in the major are maritime specific. Moreover, they are all designed to introduce students to parts of the industry where many Kings Pointers have made careers in the past, and are likely to go into in the future.

The course in Chartering and Brokerage, for example, relates to the tanker and dry bulk sectors of the maritime industry -- an area in which many graduates have specialized and will continue to do so. The course in Marine Insurance covers a career that has also proven popular with Kings Pointers. The course in Maritime Law and International Law of the Sea introduces the student to Admiralty Law, a profession where Kings Pointers have distinguished themselves. The course in Human Resource Management is also industry specific. This course includes Maritime Labor Relations, which is an important aspect of the maritime industry. No manager in the industry can be effective without understanding the role of unions and other aspects of labor relations. The Marine Transportation major also includes one elective, which must be selected from the Maritime Business area (in addition to the free electives in each major that students can still take in any department).

In general, this major has been designed to give the students a greater understanding of the business aspects of the maritime industry. But the courses offered are not general business courses such as might be offered in a typical business school. Kings Point is in a unique position as the premier maritime academy, and this major draws on that expertise to offer a program that teaches business skills as they relate to and within the context of the maritime industry. It therefore represents a program that is both academically sound and related to the career goals of our students.

Graduates of the Marine Transportation program, with their broad educational background complemented by specific professional management skills, have a wide variety of career opportunities. All branches of the Armed Forces offer possibilities for active duty. The U.S. Coast Guard commissions graduates to serve in marine inspection and environmental regulation. In the commercial sector, job opportunities include serving on a merchant ship as an officer; in terminal operations management; ship and cargo surveying; vessel chartering and brokerage; sales and marketing; port administration; admiralty and business law; marine insurance; stevedoring; commodities trading; international banking and finance. Graduates can also serve in state and federal government agencies that regulate transport and commerce; in the Foreign Service; and in research policy analysis.

The Marine Transportation Curriculum

Fourth Class Year
Maritime Professional Studies KP100
Basic Firefighting DN110
Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) DN100
English 1 HE101
History of Seapower HH100
Principles of Logistics and Transportation DB110
General Chemistry MC100
Calculus 1, 2 (Deck) MM101,MM120
Physics 1, 2 MP101, MP130
Probability and Statistics MM210
Intro to MMNR NS120
Terrestrial Navigation DN120
Celestrial Navigation DN121
Meteorology DN140
Self Defense PE101
Swimming/First Aid PE110
Aquatic Survival PE120

Third and Second Class Years
Accounting and Finance DB310
Business and Maritime Law DB300
Economics DB210
Management DB230
Marketing DB240
English 2 HE202
Comparative Culture HC201
Cargo Operations DN210
Electronic Navigation DN220
Seamanship/Shiphandling DN230
Ship's Medicine PE201
Tanker Operations DN240
MMNR Officer NS220
Naval Leadership & Ethics NS402
Information and Technology Management DM300
Maritime and Sea Law DM340
Two Physical Education Activities

First Class Year
International Business and Ocean Shipping DB410
Topics in History HC400
Advanced Firefighting DN410
Advanced Navigation DN420
Modern American History HH360
Bridge Watchstanding DN460
License Seminar DN470
Maritime Communications DN430
Naval Architecture EM300
Advanced MMNR Officer NS320
Navigation Law/Rules of the Road DN421
Radar/ARPA DN440
Two (2) Physical Education Activities Chartering and Brokerage DM410
Human Resource Management and Labor Relations DM320
Marine Insurance DM400
Three (3) Electives

Sea Year
Navigation 1, 2 DS220, DS320
Cargo 1, 2 DS230, DS330
Seamanship 1, 2 DS240, DS340
Ship Structure and Terminology DS241
Navigation Law 1, 2 DS221,DS321
Marine Engineering EC120
Ship Structure and Stability DS341
Maritime Business DS390
Electronics Navigation DS322
Humanities Sea Project HS211