Since 2025, Kherson State Maritime Academy has entered the decade preceding the bicentenary of a continuous tradition of maritime training. The Academy is the successor to Ukraine’s first maritime educational institution – Kherson School of Merchant Shipping, founded in 1834. Nowadays, KSMA remains the oldest operating maritime education centre in the Black Sea region.
The foundation and evolution of the maritime education centre are deeply connected to the history of Kherson’s growth as a hub of European trade, shipbuilding, and maritime training, rooted in the national traditions of shipping in the Azov–Black Sea region.
Over the course of nearly two centuries, the institution has undergone fourteen reorganisations, reflecting changes in history, political contexts, and state borders. The Academy has passed through every stage of training maritime professionals for the merchant fleet, and has developed its own distinct teaching and research tradition.
Since 2022, the Academy has faced the most challenging period in its history following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including the occupation of Kherson, the seizure of the institution by the Russian National Guard, and the establishment of an illegitimate “academy” operating under Russian law. These events have posed challenges to the Academy’s faculty and staff. According to the Order No. 376 of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine as of April 21, 2022, KSMA and its structural subdivision “Maritime Applied College of KSMA” were temporarily relocated to Odesa for the period of martial law. The Academy’s staff maintains the learning process in the new location, engages in active international and research activities, puts considerable effort into preserving the training facilities in Kherson, and prepares documentation for the institution’s return and reconstruction.
Challenging times give rise to fruitful partnerships. At present, Kherson State Maritime Academy, with the assistance of the Fund of the President of Ukraine for the support of Education, Science, and Sports, the International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU), the Marine Transport Workers’ Trade Union of Ukraine (MTWTU), the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), and the International Maritime Employers’ Council (IMEC), is delivering practical training within dual degree programmes in cooperation with Lithuanian Maritime Academy and the University of Plymouth (United Kingdom).
I hope that Taras Shevchenko’s words on the value of education and prestige of Kherson School of Merchant Shipping written in his 1859 letter to his brother Varfolomii — «…Пишеш, що тебе не було дома, що ти хлопців возив у Херсон. Добре зробив єси! Та тілько чи притокмив ти їх у те училище торгового мореплаванія? Якщо притокмив, то молися Богу та лягай спати: з хлопців будуть люде…» [original in Ukrainian] — will remain relevant.
Welcome to Kherson State Maritime Academy!
Rector of KSMA,
Doctor of Philosophy, Professor Viktor HUSIEV