by Frank Corr
Monday 21st June 2007
Members of CAR sailed an ocean liner into Sydney Harbour in June, surviving a fierce storm, a thick fog and harbour traffic.
With "skipper" John McGovern at the helm we skirted an island, slipped between navigational buoys and finally sailed past the famous Opera House and unde Sydney Harbour Bridge..
It was all "virtual" of course but nevertheless graphically realistic as we gathered on the bridge of the ships simulator at the National Maritime College in Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork.
The €80m college offers courses to civilian and
naval trainees in a wide range of maritime subjects from navigation, ship and port management, seacraft and engineering to safety and survival. It is a campus of Cork Institute of Technology and is run in conjunction with the Irish
Navy.
Since it accepted its first students four years ago, the National Maritime College has attracted Irish and international students and there are plans to expand its international role considerably in future years..
College director John Clarance, who spent much of his career with Shell, told us that more than five million people are employed in the EU in maritime-related jobs. Marine employment in Ireland however is just 18,000, one of the lowest for an EU maritime nation. "Even landlocked nations have more people working at sea than we have in Ireland", he said. Opportunities for job
creation in the Irish maritime industry are therefore enormous and already there are openings for a wide range of careers at sea including deck and engineering jobs and off shore exploration. Land-based jobs include ship and port management, pilot, ship design and repair, surveying, broking and financing, ship classification and maritime law.
Courses at the National Maritime College can lead to many of these jobs as well as to the development of a naval career. They include an Honours Degree in Naval Science and the Department of Transport Certificate of Competence.
John introduced Ger Lowney who gave us a conducted tour of the college
including a visit to the Environmental Pool. Here a large swimming pool is
surrounded by life boats, survival gear, a helicopter simulator, a diving
platform and a submersion tank. A control panel enables the pool area to be
plunged into darkness, high waves to develop, torrential rain to fall from jets
and lighting to flash. A brief demonstration strengthened the conviction of
many CAR members that they are indeed "landlubbers" - and we were only watching from the safety of the poolside.
Our next "port" of call was one of eight simulators installed at the college.
We saw the range of control and communication systems which are part of a
modern ship as we "sailed into Sydney"- but is could be any other major port
and the simulator could introduce snow, ice or a tropical storm.
On to the Chart Room for a panoramic view of Cork Harbour and Cobh and finally
we toured the Engineering Workshops where our own mechanics cast an expert eye over the excellent examples of toolwork completed by the students. We also saw three large marine engines (one from a Rhine barge) and an array of engineering equipment.
We had our own engineering issues en-route. Train scheduled were disrupted on
that morning and we were well behind schedule when we arrived in Cork. Despite
the delay, our hosts very graciously adjusted their schedules to extend warm
hospitality which included a splendid lunch and a most enlightning tour.
Our sincere thanks are offered to John Clarence, Ger Lowney, Tommy Griffin and
the other college instructors who were our guides and particularly to Joanne
who arranged the itinerary in conjunction with our own Leader Robert Prole.