Liepaja maritime cadets take oath and receive their first epaulettes

New students at Liepaja Maritime College took an oath to the sea and received their first epaulettes during a ceremony aboard the historic sailing ship Libava, LSM reported, citing Latvian Television. The event, held for the eighth time, marked the college’s 150th anniversary.

The college’s future ship navigators and mechanics made their first official trip into open water as sailors. The ceremony is a school tradition, held at sea each year in late September or early October, said Nauris Upenieks, head of education quality at RTU Liepaja Maritime College.

This year, students also began a new tradition: writing letters to themselves to read after their practical training. Some put the letters in bottles and cast them into the sea, hoping someone will find them ashore. Students can open the letters in their fourth year, after returning from practical training in the second semester of their third year, Upenieks said.

Four trips out to sea were held aboard Libava, which has been a symbol of Liepaja for 18 years. Families could watch the ceremony from the deck of the Discovery.

The college currently has 309 students. Among them are 99 first-year students who enrolled after ninth grade, including six girls, and 42 first-year students admitted after 12th grade. Most students are from Liepaja, while newcomers also came from Ventspils, South Kurzeme, Riga and elsewhere in Latvia.