Diploma in Nautical Science leading to Bachelors of Nautical Science is a round about one year pre-sea course which is to be done before joining the ship for further training. After the training at sea for 18 months and a few post-sea courses, one has to appear in 2nd mates’ exams (Shipping Licence). Once you clear it. You will be awarded a degree of Bachelors in Nautical Science. It takes about 4-5 years after 12th to complete this procedure and getting a graduation degree.
Minimum Eligibility:
1. PCM% >= 60 in 12th
2. English >= 50 in 10th/12th
3. Age >=17 before commencement of the course.
4. Valid Passport before joining the course.
5. Vision should be 6/6 without Aids. Vision correction methods like LASIK and Contura Vision is allowed.
6. IMU-CET should be qualified i.e. you should have a rank in IMU-CET.
7. Colour Blindness is not allowed.
What is IMU-CET?
IMU-CET is a common entrance test for admission in Marine Institutes.
It is conducted once a year in the month of May/June.
It is a centre based MCQ test.
It has 200 questions to be solved in 180 minutes.
There is a negative marking of 0.25 per wrong question.
There is a February batch for DNS too.
A rank in IMU-CET for August batch is valid for the upcoming February batch too.
Ex. A rank in IMU-CET of August 2025 is required for admission in February 2026 batch.
Now, for doing DNS, we advise you to seek for a sponsorship first.
What is sponsorship?
There are a few companies which takes exams and interviews and sponsors you for 18-month training on their owned/managed ships.
Now, opting for DNS without sponsorship is not a good choice because it will be next to impossible for that person to get a ship after his/her pre-sea training.
Why next to impossible?
Ship owners/managers do not need a Deck Cadet to carry on the ship’s operation. It’s only that they are preparing future officers. So, they prefer/trust someone who is already the part of their company. And, that is what makes sponsorship from a company the most important part of the procedure.
The company sponsorship process consists of 4 major steps:
1. Written test
2. Interview
3. Medical
4. Document submission
There are two types of companies:
1. Ownership – They have their own ships and they manage her themselves.
2. Management – They manage the ships of the owners if the owners do not want to manage her themselves.
The following companies have maximum seats for a single batch.
- Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC)
- Scorpio Group
- Great Eastern Shipping Company (GESCO)
- Synergy Group
- Anglo Eastern Shipping Company (AESM)
- Fleet Management Limited (FML)
- Bernhard Schulte Ship Management (BSM)
- Executive Ship Management (ESM) or Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies (SIMS).
- Seven Islands Shipping limited (SISL)
- Wallem
- V ships
- Maersk Line (BSc.)
There are a few companies that provide sponsorship but are rare..
- Dyanacom Tankers
- Torm Tankers
- Pacific International Line (PIL)
- Meikai Marine Services (MMS-India)
Now, once you get your sponsorship, the company will allot you the colleges. Some of the colleges where the sponsored students are sent are:
- Tolani Maritime Institute (TMI)
- Training Ship Rehman (TS Rehaman)
- International Maritime Academy (IMI)
- Anglo Eastern Maritime Academy (AEMA)
- Great Eastern Institute of Maritime Studies (GEIMS)
- Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies (SIMS)
All the above-mentioned colleges are private affiliated by Indian Maritime University, Chennai (IMU Chennai).
So, we can conclude that almost all the sponsoring companies send their candidate for pre-sea training to a private institute which is affiliated to IMU Chennai.
Synergy group sends the candidates to IMU Campus i.e only govt. college for Pre-sea training.
Now, different companies have different selection procedure and eligibility criteria. The above-mentioned minimum criteria can’t be applied for all the companies. Let us take reference of eligibility of Anglo Eastern.
- Age <= 25 before the commencement of course
- IMU CET qualified
- Not less than 60% marks in English in either 10th, 12th or Diploma course by a recognized Board/University.
- Not less than 70% PCM and 65% Aggregate in 12th.
- 6/6 vision without aids and medically fit by a DG approved Doctor.
for detailed eligibility criteria, visit :- https://www.aema.edu.in/admissions-dns/
P.S. Some companies like MSC has the age limit set to 19 years unlike Anglo Eastern, i.e 25.
For detailed eligibility criteria of MSC, visit https://mscshipmanagement.com/msccs-india-cadet-career
As I have mentioned previously, that merchant navy is ghost field, i.e. a very few people know about the correct procedure to join it.
Some people take advantage of the lack of knowledge of common people to make money which is completely unethical.
Some Common Method of Frauds in the Merchant Navy:
1. Paid sponsorship.
2. Agents who promise sponsorship from world renowned company.
The sponsorship forms are released in the month of April-May for August batch and in the month of September-October for February batch.
The syllabus and pattern for ever sponsorship exam is different and so is the evolutions and cut-offs.
It will be either online or offline and will be decided by the company.
After qualifying the exam, your interview will be scheduled.
It will be either online or offline and will be decided by the company. It is offline, mostly.
Interview Language: English
In interview, there are two parts.
1. Personal part –— Introduction, Why Merchant Navy, Strengths and weakness, etc.
2. Technical part — Basic Laws of Physics and Chemistry and their application, Question solving in maths (On spot), Geography and Current affairs.
Now comes medical and seat booking; So, after clearing the interview, you medicals would be conducted.
You will be referred to a DG approved doctor by the company and will get the report by the evening or the next day.
