Bangladesh Maritime University

Bangladesh Maritime University (BMU) is a public university in Dhaka and the country's first university devoted to maritime education. It was established in 2013 and was formerly named Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, Bangladesh. Its teaching covers shipping, ocean science, naval architecture, port management and maritime law.

Rankings

• Ulkaa Edu Rank 2027: 12th overall (score 79).5 and 94.7% data coverage. For positions 1 to 14, the position reflects Ulkaa's admission competitiveness assessment. In the same edition it is 10th among public universities and 7th in the Dhaka division.
• Webometrics 2024: world rank 10783.

BMU has no QS or THE entry in the Ulkaa data. It is a small university: in 2023 it reported 763 students and 67 teachers, of whom 19 held a PhD, about 11 students per teacher.

BMU was created by an Act of Parliament on 26 October 2013 (Act No. 47 of 2013) as the first maritime university in Bangladesh. It was described as the third maritime university in South Asia and the twelfth in the world.

The university opened its teaching on a temporary campus. On 1 August 2015 it moved to its current temporary site at Pallabi, Mirpur-12, Dhaka. A permanent campus on about 106.6 acres at Hamidchar in Chattogram is under development, according to Wikipedia.

The original name carried the name of a political figure. In 2025 a government ordinance removed such names from several public universities, and the institution became Bangladesh Maritime University.

BMU admits first-year honours students through its own online application and an MCQ-based admission test of about 1.5 hours. Rules change by year, so read the latest circular at applyonline.bmu.edu.bd.

In the circular we reviewed, applicants needed SSC (or equivalent) in 2022 or 2023 and HSC in 2024 or 2025. Faculty requirements were:

• Earth and Ocean Science: Science group, minimum GPA 4.00 in both SSC and HSC, with at least two A grades in the listed science and mathematics subjects.
• Engineering and Technology: Science group, minimum GPA 4.00 in both exams, with at least two A grades among English, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.
• Maritime Governance and Policy (LLB Maritime Law): any group, minimum GPA 3.50 in both exams and at least a B in every subject.

The Ulkaa data records 125 applicants per seat in 2025 and 290 first-year admissions in 2023.

BMU runs eight faculties, including Maritime Governance and Policy, Shipping Administration, Earth and Ocean Science, and Engineering and Technology. Wikipedia lists undergraduate subjects such as oceanography, fisheries, naval architecture, port management and maritime law, with postgraduate programmes including MBA and master's degrees in maritime fields. Cadet programmes lead to a Bachelor of Maritime Science degree.

The Ulkaa programme table holds no BMU rows yet, so this overview relies on the university's own pages and Wikipedia. Check bmu.edu.bd for the current list of departments and degrees.

No programme is recorded as accredited in the Ulkaa data for 2027. The 2023 figures show 763 students and 67 teachers, so classes are small by Bangladeshi public university standards.

Because no programme list is held, programme breadth carries no weight in its Ulkaa score; the score rests on demand, research, teaching ratios and web presence instead.

BMU's research output is small but growing. OpenAlex records 328 works linked to the university over the five years to 2025, with 5.67 citations per work and an h-index of 30 in 2026.

Yearly counts rose from 51 works in 2023 to 65 in 2024 and 141 in 2025. In 2025 engineering accounted for 82 of them, business for 23 and medicine for 18.

These are bibliometric counts from one open index, not a full picture of the university's work in oceanography, shipping and port studies, where reports and consultancy may not appear in journals. International co-authorship was 27% of works in 2025.

Those works drew 1,860 citations over the same window.

The temporary campus in Pallabi, Mirpur-12, is in north-west Dhaka. According to Wikipedia it has three residential halls, computer labs with broadband access and a 90-seat auditorium.

Industrial tours, at home and abroad, are part of student life because the subjects tie directly to ports, shipping lines and shipyards.

The permanent campus planned at Hamidchar, Chattogram, would move the university closer to the country's main seaport. Confirm hall availability and any move dates with the university before you apply.