Program Overview

Marine Transportation Program

The Marine Transportation program at Cal Poly is designed to provide students with the broadest maritime industry training possible, consistent with officer licensing requirements. This program leads to a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Transportation and prepares students for a career as a licensed deck officer or shoreside maritime manager.

Program Description

The program includes three practical training experiences: two sea training periods aboard the Training Ship GOLDEN BEAR, and one sea training period aboard a commercial or military vessel. The curriculum is designed to prepare students to take the U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Marine Officer licensing exam, which is essential for employment as a licensed deck officer on a commercial vessel.

Program Learning Objectives

• Plan and execute safe voyages using terrestrial, celestial, radar/ARPA, and ECDIS methods, integrating tides, currents, and weather.
• Maintain a safe bridge watch applying COLREGs, GMDSS procedures, and effective Bridge Resource Management (BRM).
• Demonstrate leadership, professionalism, ethical judgment, and clear communication in complex and diverse environments.
• Maneuver vessels and small craft for berthing, anchoring, close-quarters operations, including introductory tug-and-barge work.
• Analyze stability and plan/monitor dry and liquid cargo operations with pollution-prevention controls.
• Apply shipboard safety, security, and emergency-response procedures and lead effective drills.
• Meet licensure requirements by interpreting and applying maritime regulations (SOLAS, MARPOL, STCW) and demonstrating readiness for the U.S. Coast Guard Third Mate (Unlimited) exam.

Degree Requirements and Curriculum

The program requires a total of 145 units, including:

• Major courses:
  • DL 1100: Small Craft Operations
  • DL 1105 & 1105L: Marine Survival and Marine Survival Laboratory
  • DL 1105X: United States Coast Guard Lifeboatman's Exam
  • DL 1110: Ship Operations I
  • DL 1115: Marlinspike
  • DL 1120: Cargo Operations
  • DL 2225 & 2225L: Radar/Arpa and RADAR/ARPA Laboratory
  • DL 2240 & 2240L: Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS) and Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS) Laboratory
  • DL 3301: Navigation Piloting Laboratory
  • DL 3305: Tug and Barge
  • DL 3310: Marine Supervisory Laboratory
  • DL 3311: Marine Management Laboratory
  • DL 3320: Introduction to Bridge Simulator
  • DL 4405 & 4405L: Shipboard Medical and Shipboard Medical Laboratory
  • DL 4410: Ship Handling
  • DL 4420: Watchstanding Simulation
• NAU courses:
  • NAU 1102 & 1102L: Navigation I and Navigation I Laboratory
  • NAU 1103: Marine Transportation
  • NAU 1104: Shipboard Security and Responsibility
  • NAU 1105: Ship Structure
  • NAU 1109: Industrial Equipment and Safety
  • NAU 1110: Seamanship
  • NAU 1120: Marine Engineering
  • NAU 2205: Ship Stability
  • NAU 2230: Rules of the Road
  • NAU 3300 & 3300L: Celestial Navigation and Celestial Navigation Laboratory
  • NAU 3302 & 3302L: Advanced Navigation and Advanced Navigation Laboratory
  • NAU 3320: Tank Vessel Operations
  • NAU 3325: Port and Cargo Operations
  • NAU 3330: Meteorology
  • NAU 3335 & 3335L: Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems and Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems Laboratory
  • NAU 4410 & 4410L: License Seminar and License Seminar Laboratory
  • NAU 4415: Transportation Security
  • NAU 4435: Marine Transportation: People, Planet and the Profession
• Support courses:
  • CRU 1100: Sea Training I - Deck
  • CRU 2200 & 2200L: Sea Training II - Deck and Sea Training II Lab (Deck)
  • CRU 3300: Sea Training III - Deck
  • ECO 1100: Macroeconomics
  • EGL 1100: English Composition
  • EGL 1110: Speech Communication
  • EGL 2220: Critical Thinking
  • ENG 1120L: Marine Engineering Laboratory
  • FF 1100: Basic Marine Firefighting
  • FF 3300: Advanced Marine Firefighting
  • GOV 2200: American Government
  • MTH 1100: College Algebra and Trigonometry
  • PHY 1100 & 1100L: General Physics I and General Physics I Laboratory
• General Education (GE) requirements:
  • 43 units required, 28 of which are specified in Major and/or Support
  • A grade of C- or better is required in one course in each of the following GE Areas: 1A (English Composition), 1B (Critical Thinking), 1C (Oral Communication), and 2 (Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning)
  • Lower-Division General Education Area 1: English Communication and Critical Thinking
  • Lower-Division General Education Area 2: Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning
  • Lower-Division General Education Area 3: Arts and Humanities
  • Lower-Division General Education Area 4: Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • Lower-Division General Education Area 5: Physical and Life Sciences
  • Lower-Division General Education Area 6: Ethnic Studies
  • Upper-Division General Education: Upper-Division 2/5, Upper-Division 3, Upper-Division 4

Approved Electives

Students can select from the following approved electives:

• NAU 3395: Special Topics
• NAU 4420: Maritime Casualty Seminar
• NAU 4430/NAU 4430L: Liquefied Gas Cargos
• NAU 4440: Dynamic Positioning Induction

Total Units

The total units required for the degree are 145.