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DMET · MERIAlumni, home page

From the Dufferin to today

DMET and MERI trained marine engineers in Kolkata and Mumbai from 1949. Since 2008 both campuses are part of the Indian Maritime University. Their alumni now fund scholarships for the cadets who train there today.

The history

Each fact has a source, numbered at the end of the page. Where the sources disagree, we say so.

  1. 1927

    Training begins on the Dufferin

    Cadet training for the Indian merchant navy starts on the training ship Dufferin, moored in Bombay. It is the start of formal officer training for Indian ships.123

    Sources differ on the date and the size of the first batch. DG Shipping gives November 1927 and 50 cadets. The IMU annual report gives 5 December 1927 and 26 cadets.

  2. 1935

    Marine engineering joins the ship

    Marine engineering cadets train on the Dufferin with the nautical cadets. Each batch has 25 nautical and 25 engineering cadets.24

  3. 1949

    DMET moves engineering training ashore

    The Government of India sets up the Directorate of Marine Engineering Training (DMET), with its head office in Calcutta and a branch in Bombay. Cadets combine academics with hands-on work in marine workshops.1345

    Sources differ on the first intake. One gives 50 cadets across both cities. The IMU campus histories give 60 cadets at each campus.

  4. 1953

    Taratala Road, Calcutta

    The Calcutta campus moves to Taratala Road. On 14 December 1953 Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru opens the new building as the Marine Engineering College.5

  5. 1966

    Lower Parel, Bombay

    The Bombay campus moves to Lower Parel.5

  6. 1972

    The Dufferin is decommissioned

    The training ship Dufferin is decommissioned in April 1972. Sea training for cadets continues on the training ship Rajendra until 1993.123

  7. 1975

    A course for graduate engineers

    The Bombay campus starts a one-year course that trains graduate mechanical engineers and naval architects to become marine engineers.4

  8. 1995

    DMET becomes MERI

    DMET is renamed the Marine Engineering and Research Institute (MERI), in Kolkata and in Mumbai. Both campuses keep their residential, workshop-based training.1345

    Sources differ on the year for Mumbai. The IMU annual report says 1994. The IMU legacy page and the Mumbai campus brief say 1995. All sources give 1995 for Kolkata.

  9. 2008

    MERI joins the Indian Maritime University

    The Indian Maritime University Act of 14 November 2008 creates IMU, a central university, from seven institutes. MERI Kolkata becomes part of the IMU Kolkata campus, and MERI Mumbai part of the IMU Mumbai Port campus.136

  10. 2013

    The alumni scholarship begins

    Alumni of DMET and MERI, led by the batch of 1990–94, announce a scholarship for third- and fourth-year cadets. Gifts for the first grant had started before 2013. Batches and families have added named grants every few years since.78

  11. Today

    13 named grants

    Batches, families and alumni fund each grant. The Trust holds the money and pays the awards.

    ₹84.3 lakh in the corpus. 94 cadets supported.

The Trust and the scholarship

Alumni volunteers run the scholarship. This site is theirs. It is not a website of the university.

In 2013 alumni of DMET and MERI, with the first push from the batch of 1990–94, announced a scholarship for third- and fourth-year cadets. They did it under the name “22Knots”.7 Gifts for the first grant had started before 2013.8

The MERI Alumni Trust holds the money of the grants and runs the yearly cycle. The DMECA works with the Trust on some grants.7 Since 2013 batches, families and individual alumni have added named grants. See the grants.

How the work is shared

  • Coordinators run each cycle: the dates, the rules, the eligibility checks and the results.
  • A panel of alumni scores the applications, without the cadets’ names.
  • The treasurer keeps the ledger of each grant and sends a receipt for every gift.
  • Editors keep the site, the grants and the stories up to date.

Each volunteer can see only what their role needs, and the admin logs every change.

Notes and sources

Compiled on 30 September 2026 from public sources. We use only facts that a source states clearly. Photos of the old campuses and the training ships will follow when the Trust has the right to use them.

Where the sources differ

  • 1927Sources differ on the date and the size of the first batch. DG Shipping gives November 1927 and 50 cadets. The IMU annual report gives 5 December 1927 and 26 cadets.
  • 1949Sources differ on the first intake. One gives 50 cadets across both cities. The IMU campus histories give 60 cadets at each campus.
  • 1995Sources differ on the year for Mumbai. The IMU annual report says 1994. The IMU legacy page and the Mumbai campus brief say 1995. All sources give 1995 for Kolkata.

Sources

  1. 1.Annual Report 2017–18 (opens in a new tab), Indian Maritime University
  2. 2.Maritime training heritage (opens in a new tab), Directorate General of Shipping
  3. 3.Legacy (opens in a new tab), Indian Maritime University
  4. 4.Brief introduction to the Mumbai Port Campus (opens in a new tab), Indian Maritime University
  5. 5.Indian Maritime University Kolkata (opens in a new tab), Wikipedia
  6. 6.Indian Maritime University (opens in a new tab), Wikipedia
  7. 7.Overview (the old alumni scholarship site) (opens in a new tab), dmetalumni.com
  8. 8.MAT Grant (the old alumni scholarship site) (opens in a new tab), dmetalumni.com

Something wrong or missing?

If you have a record or a photo that corrects this page, write to the Trust.

Write to the Trust