The Odesa Higher Maritime School was established on June 7, 1944. It was renamed the Odesa Higher Naval Engineering School in 1958 and Odesa State Maritime Academy in 1991, following Ukrainian independence. It became a national university and assumed the title Odesa National Maritime Academy in 2002 before finally assuming its current name in 2016. Since 2014 the Odesa Naval College of the
Ukrainian Navy - the ex-Nakhimov Naval Academy, which also trains officers of the
Ukrainian Marine Corps especially since its separation from the Navy proper in 2023 - is under the supervision of the academy. It thus forms the academy's military division. ==Notable alumni==