IMLA is a no-border forum: a round table for discussions on sea-related issues. Teachers and other interested parties from all over the world dedicated to mediating in the process of Maritime Education and Training (MET) are invited to become members and to freely present their achievements, share experiences and exchange ideas.

IMLA first came into being in 1977 when a training course on Maritime English for teachers from different countries was organized in Plymouth, UK. It held its first major conference in June 1980, when the Association’s constitution was adopted. Here its aim is clearly stated: “to promote contact and cooperation between Maritime Lecturers of all disciplines and to develop a body of professional expertise”. This it attempts to fulfill at its regular international conferences and through this portal.

From the outset the Association recognized that special interest groups are a feature of MET and, as a result, has established three Sub-Committees to operate under the IMLA umbrella:

• Sub-Committee on the International Navigation Simulator Lecturers Conference (INSLC), est. 1980

Today’s INSLC was established in 1979 as the International Radar Simulator Teachers Workshop (IRSTW), the first meeting was held in Liverpool in 1980. INSLC has since then played an important role in promoting best practice in the use of navigation simulators in the training of nautical ship officers and masters, and in the use of such simulators in research. Lecturers using navigation simulators at maritime academies and universities worldwide, have benefited from the exchange of knowledge, experiences and views with colleagues at and between INSLC and as members of a steadily evolving expert network.

The tremendous developments in electronic navigation and simulator potential are reflected in the titles of the Conference. The first four meetings were held as the International Radar Simulator Teachers’ Workshops (IRSTW); the following two meetings as the International Radar and Navigation Simulator Lecturers Conferences (IRNSLC), and from 1992 the word 'Radar' was dropped to reflect the change towards a more integrated concept of navigation. This resulted in the acronym of INSLC. INSLC is a conference of IMLA, which has a consultative status at International Maritime Organization (IMO) and can therefore bring INSLC conclusions to the attention of IMO.