Posted: September 15, 2015

The official countdown to the 2015 Irish Maritime Forum has begun with only 11 days until the event will take place at the NMCI on September 25th. Join the discussion- have your say.
We, the National Maritime College of Ireland, are delighted to announce that we are the official organisers for this year’s Irish Maritime Forum which is set to take place on September 25th at the NMCI. To date we have had a great response to the upcoming event with Copius Resources, Irish Mainport Holdings Ltd., Ardmore Shipping Services Ireland Ltd., the Irish Ports Authority, the Port of Cork and NMCI Services sponsoring elements of the event.
So, why attend?
The Maritime Industry Forum is a great opportunity for maritime professionals to gain an insight into the current industry obstacles and future industry plans within the broad maritime sector. Not only will key industry leaders speak about the current issues they face but they will look at how they can be overcome by working together. Individual attendees will have an opportunity to question the key industry leaders on their plans and how they approach obstacles they are faced with.
The Forum will also highlight key areas where synergies need to be developed in order to put the Ireland at the forefront of the Maritime Sector worldwide.
The event which will be formally opened by Minister Simon Coveney will begin with an overview of the Maritime Industry by Fergal O’Brien (IBEC) and Liam Lacey (Director of the IMDO). Following on from giving an overview of both the economy and the maritime sector Jonathan Healy will MC a Maritime Skills Panel Discussion with Conor Mowlds, Cormac Gebreurs, Rory McGuire, Captain Dave Elliott and Captain Kevin Allen. The panel will discuss the need for skilled personnel within the maritime sector. With representatives from the Port Sector, Research & Innovation sector, the NMCI and the recruitment sector this panel should give a good overview of the needs of the sector in terms of training and recruitment.
Following on from the Panel Discussion the Forum will lead on to the “Port Sector” where Captain Paul O’Regan, Harbour Master for the Port of Cork, will present “Irish Ports – Gateways for sustainable Logistic growth…or potential bottlenecks”. This will then be followed by Captain Kevin Richardson, AFNI, will discuss “The Critical Role of Harbour Master in a successful Port Business”. Captain Harry McClenahan, Navigation Services Manager with CIL, will be discussing how we can work together “To deliver Berth to Berth e-navigation services” while Jane O’Keeffe, Logistics & Supply Chain course coordinator at the NMCI, will examine the “Issues facing the extended maritime sector in respect of impacts of, and adaptation to climate change”.
The Offshore & Renewable Sector (Sponsored by Irish Mainport Holdings Ltd.) will see Prof. Conchúr Ó Brádaigh examine the prospects for “Marine Renewable Energy” which Tommy Furey from Infomar will look at “Mapping our Maritime Future” which will lead into the Marine Tourism & Leisure Sector where Dr.Connie Kelleher discuss the numerous shipwrecks sites on Irish Coast. Dave Ward from CIL will then talk about the “”Great Lighthouses of Ireland” and how they aid in the navigation of the Irish Coast. The category will then be closed off by Dr.Amaya Vega where she will speak about the “Atlantic Action Plan”.
The day will end on a high note with an interactive piece by Aidan Mulcahy of M3TV Productions who will showcase “Lighting up the Lusitania” to the conference attendees.
For further details check out www.irishmaritimeforum.ie and for bookings click here https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/irish-maritime-forum-2015-tickets-18113269276
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Posted: June 24, 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.

Seán Mowlds (SEFtec) & Joy Gillen (GTSS)

NMCI Gents at the Maritime Industry Awards

James O’Byrne, Conor Mowlds & Roderick Cooke (NMCI)

Annette Coughlan (NMCI) , Giuesseppe from D’amico & Helena Day (NMCI)

Ball Room at Ballsbridge Hotel
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

Category Winners at the Maritime Industry Awards 2015
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.
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Posted:


Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister
for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation with Rory McGuire, Flagship’s European Partner (2013)
Who are Flagship Management?
Flagship Maritime Consultants Ltd, trading as Flagship Management, provides specialist recruitment, staffing and executive search services to the maritime, energy and offshore industries. From its base in Kinvara, Co. Galway, the company provides services covering markets in Ireland, the EU, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. The company works across many sectors of the industry including the oil and energy majors, leading ship owners, leading shipyards, classification societies, maritime regulatory agencies and maritime finance and insurance services. Flagship Ireland is one of the principal suppliers of senior management for major shipbuilding projects in China and South Korea.
Flagship has established itself overcoming many competitive challenges. It was a new entrant into a highly competitive and established market with numerous competitors spread across Europe. The Flagship model had already proven itself in the US, Canada and South America, and was now to target two of the largest maritime marketplaces: Europe and the Asia Pacific. In order to claim market share we are focusing on our competitive advantages that are difficult for our competitors to replicate:
- We focus on employing staff with extensive experience in the maritime industry adding skills and knowledge that our competitors cannot offer. Our staff are ex-‐naval architects, master mariners, chief engineers and bunker traders amongst others.
- In addition to their expertise, our staff offers a more mature profile in an industry dominated by a very young and very transient workforce.
- Everything is in the ‘Cloud’. Our cloud-‐based infrastructure allows our personnel to work remotely in real-‐time just as if they were still in the office. Our office phone numbers follow us wherever we go, allowing an “always-‐ on” service for our clients.
- Our service offering: in addition to the above, our services follow a six-‐point process that provides a structural approach for both ourselves and our clients. By following this process we have an industry leading retention rate of professionals placed with our clients.
Our knowledge, our network, working for our clients and candidates
We are professional recruiters with real maritime know-‐how. Our experience matters. We have worked in the industry and are vested in it and consequently our clients benefit from an intuitive knowledge of the positions they are trying to fill. Our candidates can expect dedicated support throughout the recruitment process from submission to the first day on the new job and beyond. Check out our website: www.flagshipmgt.com
Want further information on Flagship? Open this PDF : Flagship Management Profile
A CV IS NOT YOUR LIFE STORY: it’s the exciting advert for your life story coming soon to an interview room near you.
Your Maritime CV: 3 simple ways to make your CV a LOT better!
Every week we’re reading hundreds of CV’s and, for any given job advertised, you can bet company HR departments are also reviewing hundreds of CV’s and they have a lot less time to review them than our team. Some career advisors will tell you ‘you need to make your CV stand out!’ You might also feel that fancy formatting and plenty of colour with ‘cool’ infographics is the way to go. In our opinion the following is much more productive:
1. Standard formatting: Personal details, Employment (most recent to oldest), Education (Always include from-to dates, type of degree/dip/cert and University/Educational Institute), Skills (IT, personnel, HSEQ training, short courses, languages, etc) and Interests.
If the HR manager has 100 CV’s to review, 6 annual performance management interviews, a union dispute, and any amount of payroll, pension or new employee inductions to carry out that day then they are not going to appreciate having to work through your infographics, diagrams and colourful pictures to find out if you’re actually qualified to do the job, particularly if you’re number 99 and they’ve already found 5 guys they can call to interview. It’s a lot easier for them to find your information if it presented in a similar format to most of the CV’s they’ll see.
2. It’s not what you’ve done, it’s how well you have done it! It’s ok to include brief information on the roles and responsibilities of each position you’ve had in the past, but it is extremely important to highlight your achievements in each role. What additional value were you to each employer? How did you improve processes or procedures? Did you make your employer more efficient? Did you save costs or earn extra revenue for your company? Did you have excellent annual performance appraisals? Did you give to your employer more than just the standard requirements of the job.
If you’re a bunker trader or marine business developer you must highlight your performance against target. If you’re a HSEQ manager you must highlight processes, incident-free records, etc. If you’re a tech super, highlight solutions that saved your employer time/money in downtime maybe in drydock. At the very least you should be able to say that your annual performance reviews were excellent.
3. Keep it short. Too many guys were speak to believe that they cannot possibly fit their experience into anything less than 8 pages! We have argued this point with guys with CV’s that are over 20 pages long! A CV IS NOT YOUR LIFE STORY: it’s the exciting advert for your life story coming soon to an interview room near you. It should be 2 pages, max 3. Most employers are only going to be interested in what you’ve been doing over the past 5 years, provide detail on your last 2 to 3 positions and list out everything else.
Good luck in your job search!
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Posted: June 23, 2015
Harnessing our Ocean Wealth
Maritime Transport Developments: Ireland and the EU
National Maritime College of Ireland, Cork
Date: 10 July 2015
SeaFest will be taking place here in Ringaskiddy, both at the NMCI & the Beaufort Building, in July. As part of this conference there will be a seminar which is being organised by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS). The aim of the seminar is to outline and discuss relevant developments at national and EU level which underpin a successful maritime transport sector in Ireland. There will be a particular emphasis on the international and EU dimension, and the relationship between the regulatory environment and the relevant actions in Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth (HOOW). The seminar provides an opportunity to discuss actions and progress in Maritime Safety, Security and Surveillance – one of the eight Enablers identified in HOOW as vital for creating the conditions for growth and investment.
Check out the seminar agenda below or click on the link to open it in a pdf. Seminar Agenda
|
Agenda of Seminar
|
| 14.00 – 14.05 |
Opening and Welcome – Dr Deirdre O’Keeffe, Head of the Irish Maritime Administration, (DTTAS)
|
| 14.05 – 14.15 |
Opening Session: – Overview of maritime administration in Ireland – Mr Brian Hogan, Chief Surveyor, Marine Survey Office (DTTAS)
- Maritime Safety Strategy
- The role of the Irish Maritime Administration
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| 14.15 – 14.30 |
International Maritime Transport Regulation – European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) – Mr Nikolaos Katsoulis, Project Officer
- Overview of EMSA’s role
- Developments in the EC and EMSA
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| 14.30 – 14.45 |
Shipowner’s Perspective – Arklow Shipping – Mr James Kavanagh, Technical Director
- Management of regulatory requirements
|
| 14.45 – 15.00 |
Seafarer’s Perspective – ITF/SIPTU – Mr Ken Fleming, Inspectorate Co-Ordinator Ireland & UK
- The Human Element: the Maritime Labour Convention and the STCW Manila amendments – Role of seafarers’ representatives
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| 15:00-15:15 |
Recognised Organisation (ROs)– Bureau Veritas, BV – Mr Darren Roberts Operations Manager UK & Ireland
- Role of ROs
- How ROs can help shipowners, seafarers and maritime administrations to manage new requirements
|
| 15.15 – 15.30 |
Panel Discussions: Speakers as above and Mr Conor Mowlds Head of the National Maritime College of Ireland, NMCI, and Mr Liam Lacey Director of the Irish Maritime Development Office, IMDO. Moderator: Dr Deirdre O’Keeffe, (DTTAS) |
| 15.30 |
Closing remarks – Speaker: TBC
|
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Posted:
The Nautical Institute Ireland Branch
The Nautical Institute is the international professional organisation for maritime professionals, providing a wide range of services to enhance the professional standing and knowledge of members who are drawn from all sectors of the maritime world. The Institute provides individual membership to Merchant and Naval personnel who are interested in maritime matters.

http://www.nautinst.org/
What do we do?
- We promote professionalism amongst those in control of sea going ships.
- We give seafarers a representative voice at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) and other industry bodies on key policy issues.
- We Provide support and guidance for Continuing Professional Development (CPD Online), an online Jobs Board and worldwide branch network activities.
- We give mariners professional recognition with the chance to network with colleagues, employers and customers and improve job prospects.
How do we do all this?
- Publications, such as the Seaways magazine issued monthly, the Mariners’ Alerting and Reporting Scheme (MARS), where you can help others learn from your experiences and the ALERT bulletin for improving awareness of the human element in the maritime industry which includes online VODCASTS that can be downloaded.
- A Members Only Area, including free downloads of briefings and conference papers, with participation forums online such as AIS, ECDIS, e-Navigation and lifeboat safety.
- Worldwide professional recognition, including being able to display your Nautical Institute membership on your business card and CV.
- The Nautical Institute accredits training in Dynamic Positioning.
- The Nautical Institute offers open learning schemes for: Harbour Masters, Square Rig Sailing and Command.
- Legal defence insurance cover, protecting you against criminalisation
- 30% discount on nautical publications such as the Admiralty Manual of Seamanship, Radar and ECDIS.
The Ireland Branch has over 150 members’, providing a local professional focus giving national representation for Ireland. We host presentations imparting excellent professional knowledge/experience, keeping maritime professionals up to date with developments in the industry as well as an opportunity to socialise with other members. We provide maritime professionals with access to local people who can offer guidance and advice on career and studies.
Who are the People? Members consist of Irish Maritime Professionals from across the industry including ships officers, naval service personnel, surveyors, lecturers, marine superintendents. A number of Ireland Branch members also serve on the Institutes international committees including the Technical, Professional Development and IMO Committees.
The Nautical Institute Ireland Branch is run by maritime professionals for maritime professionals. Seafarers are essential to the Continuing Professional Development that takes place at branch level. The work of the institute and the focused work of the branch has enhanced members technical knowledge and skill set. Continuing Professional Development is encouraged and learning takes place during presentations, symposiums, seminars and during discussion and debate. The topics that are covered at branch meetings go beyond a structured college curriculum and contain technical solutions delivered by practical industry experts in order to promote Lifelong Learning throughout the maritime sector.

Employment Opportunities
Committee positions in the Nautical Institute Ireland Branch are honorary, however employment opportunities can become available at the Nautical Institute Head Quarters in London. These usually include requirements for a relevant maritime qualification .

The Nautical Institute Ireland Branch Asgard Award for Best Research Dissertation
Recipient Lawerence Kirwan June 2014
-END-
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