CASTINE — What lessons can the sinking of a luxury liner 100 years ago offer 21st-century students?

Plenty, according to a man who teaches a course at Maine Maritime Academy about the sinking of Titanic.

Charles Weeks, an MMA alum and emeritus professor there, said he had the idea for the class after he realized many maritime textbooks still used the ill-fated ship as an example.

“Why not make a course just for Titanic?” he said. “It ties in to all things.”

The elective course looks at issues such as ship structure and stability, propulsion and electrical systems, lifeboats and what Weeks said could be termed “crowd control” — how to deal with passengers in a chaotic situation.

Students also use a simulator that puts them on the bridge of a ship, where they get to practice what Weeks called “Murdoch’s Maneuver” — attempting to avoid an iceberg, named for William Murdoch, Titanic’s first officer and the man who was in charge on the ship’s bridge when the fateful collision occurred.

“Getting around the iceberg can be done,” Weeks said. “But it’s not a slam dunk.”

Weeks has taught the class for six years — on campus, at first, and in an online format since 2009.

The class appeals to a variety of students, Weeks said, not just those who intend to captain ships. Weeks said a marine biology major, for example, took his course and wrote her term paper on the degradation of the ship’s hull.

“They can all find something of interest in Titanic,” he said.

Weeks traces his own interest in the ship to his childhood, when he had an almanac that highlighted the April 14 sinking.

Recently, he was one of 11 authors who collaborated on a book offering a technical look at the sinking: “Report into the Loss of the SS Titanic — A Centennial Reappraisal.”

“I’ve always been interested in ships and the things that happen to them,” said Weeks, who is a member of the Titanic International Society.

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