NMCI Seafarers' Conference 2023 Announced
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The National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) has launched its second annual Seafarers’ Conference themed ‘Thriving Fishing, Thriving Offshore Wind, Thriving Ports’. The hybrid event will take place on 23rd February 2023 in the Castletroy Park Hotel in Co. Limerick.
The conference, sponsored by Simply Blue Group, will once again bring together representatives from Ireland’s maritime industry, supply chain workforce, and training & education institutions to explore the opportunities that exist to support and grow the fishing and offshore wind industries in Ireland in tandem.
To register to attend this conference, please click here.
Speakers at the event will include Caroline Bocquel, Interim CEO, BIM, Noel Cunniffe, CEO Wind Energy Ireland, Brian Hogan, Chief Surveyor Marine Survey Office, and Norah Parke, Project Coordinator Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation Ltd.
Among the topics for discussion include what the fishing industry needs to thrive; the policy regime for renewable energy; implementation of the ‘future skills needs report’; the ecosystem impacts of offshore wind farms; and the future for Ireland’s fishing ports.
Minister for Agriculture and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue said: “Having opened the first NMCI Seafarer Conference in 2022, I am delighted to launch the second. I am particularly enthused to see the Conference appended to The Skipper Expo as it provides an ideal forum within which seafarers and offshore wind developers can meet and discuss a coexistent future. To ensure a sustainable seafood industry in parallel with Ireland meeting its climate action targets, the protection of biodiversity and the building of the necessary skills to achieve all of this, I encourage delegates to co-create solutions towards a sustainable, safe, and secure future for all.”
Speaking about the conference, Captain Brian Fitzgerald, Director of External Affairs and Stakeholder Liaison, Simply Blue Group said: “If ever Ireland needed its mariners and coastal communities to work together to co-create a sustainable future it is now. Let this Conference be a place to have an open and frank discussion on the challenges ahead, while enabling our ability to plot our own course and navigate towards a sustainable future for the next generation.”
Cormac Gebruers Head of College NMCI commented: “The NMCI is delighted to ‘get on the road’ and host the 2023 Seafarer Conference in Limerick in association with The Skipper Expo. Preparing for Ireland’s future maritime skills needs most especially in the offshore wind sector is a central consideration for the NMCI. We very much look forward to discussing this with Ireland’s seafarers.”