航海教育係偏重於理論與實務結合的應用教育，實習船是航海教育的最佳教學典範，但船舶取得及營運成本是項沉重負擔，本研究以文獻回顧、檔案整理、個案研究等方法，進行我國實習船最適規模與營運成本分析。研究顯示，我國航海院校多次提出實習訓練船需求，但都未受決策肯定，原因在於尚有航商船隊支援實習課程，得以因應，但近年以來，產業航海人力結構變遷，航商提供實習資源銳減，航海教育海上實習課程淪為選修，航海人力培育益發險峻。產業優質人才來自教育，在航運產業是海島國經貿依存命脈的前提下，實習船對教育、產業、國家經貿都有正向的貢獻，鄰近國家莫不優先建構，以為提升海洋競爭優勢及早佈局。我國在整體海洋政策已漸趨明確的架構下，航海教育實習船的建構有其必要性。

Navigation education is a form of applied education which emphasis on the conjunction of theories and practices. The training vessel, although being the best teaching model for navigation education, can be a heavy burden for its high cost of acquiring and maintaining. By literature review and reorganizing the historical files and documents as well as case studies methods, this study will analyze the most suitable scale and maintaining cost of training vessels for the Taiwan’s optimal. The study will show Taiwan nation’s navigation education institutes suggested the need of training vessels for internship in numerous times but they were declined by the decision maker in each time, the reasons were that there are merchant fleets supporting sufficient internship courses. But over the years, due to the structural changes in manpower of commercial sea liners, the resources of internship that the merchant ship companies provided had been in sharp decline, internship courses of navigation education became optional courses, thus making it more difficult for training of manpower in navigation. Industrial talents derive from good education, assuming reliance of shipping industry is vital to island nation’s economy and trade; training vessel would contribute positively toward education, industry and national economy. Taiwan’s neighboring nations have prioritized its construction of training vessel to enhance its advantage and favorable position in competition of the ocean. Considering that National ocean policy is becoming increasingly clearer, the construction of navigation education training vessel is becoming a necessity.