Giving a push to Kochi’s aspirations of becoming a state-of-the-art maritime and shipping hub, the prestigious Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA) OPENED its Kochi branch on Friday.

Chief Executive Officer of RINA Trevor Blakeley inaugurated the new branch, the second in India after Chennai, at a function at Sree Narayana Gurukulam COLLEGE of Engineering at Kolencherry.

Ship designer of international acclaim Antony Prince will be the chairman of the new branch.

RINA, according to Mr. Blakeley, is an international professional institution in existence for over 150 years whose members are involved in design, construction, repair and maintenance of marine vessels and structures in over 90 COUNTRIES across the globe.

The STUDENT community, he said, would be greatly benefited from association with the agency, which comes out with over 6,000 technical research papers and holds some 20 conferences every year.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – April 18th, 2015