The Maritime Institute of Humanities was established in 2017 on the basis of the Faculty of Law, which was founded in 1997 at Odessa National Maritime University and began training specialists in specialty Law.

At that time there was a shortage of qualified lawyers in the maritime industry. And the first one who understood that was the rector of ONMU, a prominent scientist, and a true professional in the maritime industry - Yuri L. Vorobyov. He should be considered a godfather of the faculty. With his inherent energy Yuri L. began to build up a new specialty.

The priority of the "maritime" component in the training of maritime lawyers determined the choice of the first Dean of the faculty. It was a graduate of the Odessa Institute of Marine Engineers and the Academy of National Economy of the USSR, an active member of the Academy of Transport and the International Academy of Sciences on Environmental Safety, Nature and Human Rights, the honored Transport Worker of Bulgaria, Sergei G. Nikulin. Due to his practical work experience and industrial relations, the first external relations of the faculty with the enterprises of the industry were established; a range of manufacturing practice bases and placements for graduates was determined.

In 1999-2011 the candidate of engineering sciences, associate professor Anatoliy V. Shakhov, who made a lot of efforts for the development of this structural department of ONMU and picked up a highly qualified scientific and pedagogical staff, headed the faculty of law.

In 2011 the candidate of economic sciences, associate professor Samoilovska Valentina P., who had been performing duties of the deputy dean of the faculty since the day of its foundation, was elected to the position of the Dean of the Faculty of Law.

In 2017, two new specialties 035 Philology and 053 Psychology were licensed, that became a major achievement and enabled young people to get popular and rewarding professions. The natural continuation of these events was the creation on September 1, 2017 of the Maritime Institute of Humanities.