National Maritime College of Ireland

Maritime Industry Awards 2015

Where do we even begin?

The awards took place in Dublin at the Ballsbridge Hotel last Thursday and were hosted by Colm O’Regan of ‘Irish Mammies’ fame. A charismatic host who had over 240 guests laughing in their seats from the beginning. The night kicked off with a champagne reception at the Ballsbridge Hotel which was a great way to begin networking with the guests at the event. The bell rang and the doors opened into the ball room which took your breathe away. The room was beautifully decorated, seating arrangements even had guest names with company logos on them. Event Strategies thought of everything for this night. Once we were seated the Starter, West Cork Black Pudding, arrived followed by an option of either Beef or Hake. Dessert was then presented, a trio of chocolate, followed by tea & coffee.

The awards ceremony kicked off then at 10pm on the dot. With two large screens showcasing the award winners receiving their trophies nobody missed the moments which we had all been waiting for. All pictures from the night of the awards can be found on our Twitter Page here.

Some pictures from the event can be seen below.

Background to the event

The inaugural Maritime Industry Awards is something which we had been working towards for some time now. A lot of people may not be aware of the work which went on behind the scenes prior to the event but there were several key industry players involved in getting these awards off the ground. We would like to take this opportunity to thank those people involved in the awards, namely; Conor Mowlds – Head of the National Maritime College of Ireland, Liam Lacy -Director of the IMDO, Capt. Kevin Allen -Harbour Master, Belfast Harbour , Geoffrey O’Sullivan – (Retired) formerly Senior Science Policy Advisor, Marine Institute (Ireland)  , Conchur O’Bradaigh – Director, Professor of Energy Engineering, Marine Renewable Energy Ireland, Lorcan O’Cinnéide – Irish Fish Processors, Dr. David Jackson – Inspector of Fisheries/Section Manager, Marine Institute, Capt. Dave Hopkins – Marine Director, Irish Mainport Holdings, Prof. Patrick Shannon – Irish Offshore Operators’ Association, Minister Simon Coveney, Event Strategies and the Team at the National Maritime College of Ireland.

 

Overall Category Winners at the Maritime Industry Awards

In total there were 15 prestigious trophies which were presented to individuals and organisations within Ireland’s maritime industry.

The 2015 Awards Winners are listed below. 

Overall Maritime Excellence Award: Resolute Marine Energy

Lifetime Achievement Award: Eoin Sweeney

Ship Operator of the Year: Atlantic Towage & Marine

Excellence in Maritime Environmental Protection Award: Commissioners of Irish Lights

Excellence in Maritime Education & Training Award: Marine Data Network – SEA-Tech Evolution

Excellence in Marine Renewable Energy Award: Resolute Marine Energy

Excellence in Vessel Repair & Maintenance Award: Mooney Boats

Special Recognition Award: Helen Noble

Excellence in Marine Tourism & Leisure Award: Port of Cork Company

Excellence in Aquaculture Award: Marine Harvest Ireland

Offshore Ireland Award: Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources

Shipyard of the Year: Bere Island Boat Yard

Innovation in Maritime Safety Award: SafeTrx – DeCare Systems Ireland

Innovation in Marine Technology Award: SeaFi Horizon – Port of Cork Company and SEA-Tech Evolution

Commercial Dive and Marine Contractors of the Year: Inland and Coastal Marina Systems

 

 

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate everyone who was shortlisted for an award and the overall category winners. It was great to see companies being recognised for their efforts in supporting the growing maritime sector in Ireland.  For pictures of each category winner receiving their award  click here.

A huge thank you goes to our  Minister Simon Coveney for his motivating and heartfelt speech at the awards about the potential of Ireland’s Maritime Sector. It was an honour for the NMCI, as patrons to the awards, to have the Minister both attend and speak at the inaugural maritime awards.