 But in India there were no facilities to impart training to Indians to become merchant navy officers till 1927.The Great visionary Sir P. S. sivaswamy Iyer’s strong advocacy for the cause resulted in acceptance of a resolution on 19 March 1926 by the Central Government to commence the Indian Mercantile Marine, the Ministry of Commerce, accordingly acquired troopship Dufferin and the three-year course for the first batch commenced on Dufferin on 5 December 1927 with 26 cadets.The first cadet Ramdas Katari who was later to become the first Indian commander-in-chief of the Indian Navy belonged to this very batch.