The RMU occupies the premises of the old Ghana Nautical College which was established in 1958 to train ratings for the erstwhile State Shipping Corporation (Black Star Line). On 1 October 1982, the Government of Ghana promulgated the Regional Maritime Law 1982 which was followed by the signing of the instrument of transfer, handing over the college to the then Ministerial Conference of West and Central African States on Maritime Transport (MINCONMAR), now known as Maritime Organization of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), which negotiated for its regionalization. The college was then renamed the Regional Maritime Academy (RMA).