Slaloming down a narrow road in an Indian taxi, swerving around sacred cows and women in bright saris carrying washing to the river, the world’s oceans and the challenges that face shipping seem far away.

But take the main road two hours east of the teeming centre of Mumbai, into a valley on the edge of the remote and wild Western Ghats hills to Karjat, and you arrive at a college inspired to train tomorrow’s seafarers today.

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