The institute was initially established as Institut Kemahiran Tinggi MARA (IKTM) and approved in the Seventh Malaysia Plan (1996 - 2000). It was later registered as Malaysian Institute of Marine Engineering Technology (MIMET). On 20th August 2002, MIMET became an institute of Universiti Kuala Lumpur and named Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Institute of Marine Engineering Technology or famously known as UniKL MIMET. Since then, UniKL MIMET has never look back in trying to be the main figure in the marine and maritime industries.