2nd Maritime Festival of Science a Great Success
The Maritime Festival of Science took place from 5 to 7 June 2025, with more than 1500 participants attending the event's demonstrations, workshops, and lectures. The event took place at two locations: the first day in the main Gdynia Maritime University building on Morska Street, and the second and third days at the Faculty of Navigation in the centre of Gdynia.
During the first day, primary school and high school pupils were introduced to maritime customs and traditions, the history and origin of the trap whistle, the education on offer at GMU, and the impact of accidents at sea on environmental pollution. During the Festival's workshops, young minds also discovered the applications of virtual reality in education, prepared healthy snacks from fruit and vegetables, and explored marine communications systems. Also open for visitors were interesting laboratories and simulators, including the Materials Strength Laboratory, Automation and Robotics Laboratory, and Ship Power Plant Simulator.
The second day of the Festival began with a life raft deployment demonstration, showing how a life raft emerges from an enclosed capsule.
School pupils also took part in showings at the A. Ledóchowski Planetarium and classes carried out in the Simulation Laboratory of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). There was also a chance for them to try their hand at being a real captain in the Ship Manoeuvrer Simulator.
The third day – the Maritime Picnic, took place on campus at the Faculty of Navigation. The final day of the event was a special occasion for all.
The start of the day at 11:00 was marked with a siren and lights provided by the uniformed services taking part. Presenting their work were the Maritime Division of the Border Guard, Gdynia Municipal Police, and Voluntary Search and Rescue Services.
Visitors were welcomed at stands with demonstrations and attractions prepared by staff from the GMU Maritime Institute, students from student scientific circles Transport and Logistics Systems, Seaquest and Nautica.
Throughout the festival, shanty songs were performed on a specially prepared stage by the band Johny Roger and the Men's shanty choir Zawisza Czarny. The beautifully sung shanty songs created a real maritime atmosphere at the Festival and attracted many passers-by out for a walk in the area of Kościuszko Square and Gdynia Marina.
Not far from the stage, an interesting workshop, entitled "Help, I'm sinking - how to survive in a life raft" was held in a real-life raft allowing participants to familiarise themselves with this type of vessel.
The highlight of the Maritime Picnic was the launch of the book "Miś The Sailor" - the extraordinary true tale of a dog whose home was the historic tall ship Dar Pomorza. The author of the book is Małgorzata Sokołowska, a local author and enthusiast of all things Gdynia and maritime. The book was proofread by Joanna Stasiak, the curator of the GMU Hall of Tradition, and beautifully illustrated by Marty Debis. The historical narrative was consulted with Captain Mirosław Peszkowski, captain of the University's sail training ship Dar Młodzieży, who as a student sailed with Miś.
Following the official launch of the book, which was presided over by school pupil Piotr Krajewski as its godfather, many copies of the book were distributed.
In addition to listening to sea shanties, sampling maritime delicacies, and broadening their knowledge at specially prepared stands, sea and sailing enthusiasts were in for a real treat with short rides along the picturesque seaside boulevard aboard GMU Sailing and Watersports Centre vessels. Naturally, the boat rides were very popular and lasted until 16:00.
The Maritime Picnic and the Maritime Festival of Science as a whole was an excellent occasion for the integration of our academic community with young minds, many of whom may go on to be future scientists. Events like these aim to show us and remind us that knowledge isn't confined to wise books, but surrounds us in our everyday lives.
We would like to warmly thank all staff and students who took part in organising the 2nd Maritime Festival of Science. We also thank all staff from the GMU Maritime Institute for their inspiring stands, the Maritime Division of the Border Guard, the Municipal Police in Gdynia, and the Voluntary Search and Rescue Services.
We hope to see you at the next Maritime Festival of Science!
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The project is financed by the State budget allocated by the Minister for Education and Science as part of the programme "Social Responsibility of Science II".
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