From 1895 till 1905 the number of steamships of the Russian merchant fleet increased to 874 vessels : an increase in tonnage - from 206, 7 till 418, 2 thousand register tons. The decrease in use of sailing ships resulted in the reorganization of the fleet’s human resources. On the 13th of June of the year 1905 the Emperor Nicholas II approved the “Statute on Educational institutions for training of marine engineers of the merchant fleet”. In accordance with the “Statute” the marine engineer academy of the merchant fleet was founded by the “Saint-Petersburg college of deep sea navigation of the Emperor Nicholas II” on the 1st of July that same year. To enter this academy applicants were obliged to have completed four classes of city college education, two months of seagoing experience on vessels, and to be elder than 15 years. The theoretical courses lasted 8 months.

The annual on-board training which included the propulsion machinery maintenance lasted 2 months. During the theoretical courses the cadets were trained at different workshops: woodturning workshop, tool and bench workshop, fitting workshop, casting workshop, coppersmith's workshop, electric workshop, and smithy. Besides, during one of the summer months, every cadet had to do 8 hours of daily regular work. The college education lasted 4 years. The first year was a preparatory year, the other years provided for specialized courses. 45 applications for admission to the college were submitted in 1905. 29 cadets were admitted to the first class. The age of these cadets ranged from 15 years to 29 years. Everyone could apply for a place at the college, there were no class nor religious restrictions. Construction of a special building for the College of Deep-Sea Navigation located on the 22nd line of Vasilyevsky Island, was completed in autumn 1905.

The College of Deep-Sea Navigation and College of Marine Engineers where moved into this building in October. On the 22nd of December the Emperor Nicholas II ordered to unite both educational institutions as “United Colleges of Deep-Sea Navigation and Marine Engineers for the merchant fleet of the Emperor Peter the Great”. Since that moment up to the present day marine engineers are prepared for the merchant fleet in the same building. From 1944 the College provides training for marine engineers and electrical engineers.

This moment is considered as the beginning of the Higher Marine Engineering Education in Russia. In November 2012, the Faculty of Ship’s Power Supply and Propulsion Systems was founded on the base of the Marine Engineering and Electrical Engineering Faculties : the eldest faculties of the University.