Ireland is the country of honour at this year’s Sea Tech Week, the international event dedicated to marine and maritime science and technology.

The 14th edition of the expo takes place from 15-17 October at the Quartz Congress Centre in Brest, the port city in north-western France that’s twinned with Dun Laoghaire.

Registration is now open for visitors and exhibitors — and is free for Irish delegates.

“A breath of fresh Éire” is the tagline for Sea Tech Week 2024, which will feature three keynote panel discussions, and more than 30-plus workshops on cybersecurity, offshore energy, regulation, governments’ action at sea, new routes and more, alongside an international trade fair with over 40 exhibitors.

The three days will also see more than 200 B2B meetings, visits to business and labs for the Irish delegation, and a networking cocktail reception.

This year’s country of honour is Ireland, marking the first time in Sea Tech Week’s 20-plus-year history that a European country will receive this recognition.

The event’s organisers, Campus mondial de la mer, say their aim is “to strengthen bilateral ties with Ireland’s closest EU neighbour and facilitate fruitful discussions on the most important topics in the European maritime space”.

To that end, the Embassy of Ireland in France will have a pavilion at the trade show, and a number of workshops will have a particular focus on Ireland:

• ‘Funding opportunities to facilitate Franco-Irish collaboration in the blue economy’ organised by Enterprise Ireland – Tuesday 15 October 3.15pm
• ‘Smart green port’ by Enterprise Ireland – Wednesday 16 October 3.15pm
• ‘France-Ireland workshop on cybersecurity risks and challenges in the maritime sector’ co-organised by the University of Western Brittany and the University of Limerick – Thursday 17 October 9.30am
• ‘Imagery of the sea in Irish arts, literature, and culture’ led by Dun Laoghaire’s Institute of Art Design & Technology (IADT) – Thursday 17 October 09.30am

The full list speakers and further information on the workshops will be announced in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, maritime safety and security will be top of the agenda for this year’s edition, with workshops led by high-level panellists from esteemed organisations from across the world covering topics ranging from cybersecurity, robotics, data and space technology to ports, vessels and tackling pollution.

The event will be attended by thousands of scientists, entrepreneurs, clusters and researchers with opportunities to share the latest advances in research and innovation, make new contacts and further develop partnerships and cooperation, with a particular focus on the implications for the wider world.

For more details, see the Sea Tech Week website HERE.

The next edition of The Transat will now start in the French port city of Brest instead of Plymouth, race organisers have announced.

Plymouth on the Devon coast was originally confirmed over a year ago as the start venue for the 2020 edition of the four-yearly event, the first and oldest single-handed transatlantic race in history.

No explanation has been given for the switch away from Britain’s Ocean City, other than race owners and organisers OC Sport Pen Duick saying that the change comes as it looks “for innovative ways to secure the future of The Transat”.

“We are really pleased to be partnering with Brest for The Transat, and together we share a strong desire to continue developing the race in 2020 and beyond,” OC Sport CEO Hervé Favre said.

“We have seen from races such as the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe [also owned by OC Sport Pen Duick] just how engaged the French public are with offshore sailing where we had over two million visitors to the race village.

“Staging the start from Brest is a real opportunity for our sponsors and the teams to capitalise on this captive audience and we expect it to open up many new commercial opportunities which are essential to guarantee the longevity of the race. I’d like to thank Plymouth for their support of the race up until this point.”

The Transat will celebrate its 60th anniversary when the world’s top solo sailors gather to race 3,500 nautical miles across the North Atlantic this time next year.

While the race was born in the UK, its organisers say it has always attracted the French elite of offshore sailing, who in recent years have dominated the race.

Last year Plymouth was also the focus of rumours that it might lose out as the traditional start of the Rolex Fastnet Race to a French port, though that speculation was swiftly shot down by the RORC which said it was working to make the Plymouth start even “bigger and better”.

A trio of French Naval mine-route survey craft are to sail upriver of the River Lee this Friday and are to berth in the Port of Cork at the North Custom House Quay, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The craft BRS Antarès (M 770), BRS Altaïr (M 771) and BRS Aldébaran (M 772) represent all of the three-ship Antarès-class which are based in the Breton naval base of Brest. At 28m long the rather stout-looking craft (photo) weigh some 250 tonnes displacement and have a crew of 23.

Leadship of the class BRS Antarès entered service in 1993 and was followed by the remaining pair which too were built by Chantier (Socarenam) in Boulogne-sur-Mer.

In March the BRS Altaïr accompanied the minehunter CMT Cassiopée (M642) to Dublin for a four-day visit during the St. Patrick's Day festival.

Dubliner Paul O'Riain's comprehensive article on his Figaro debut experience in 2007 has moved, Click this link for it and the latest La Solitaire du Figaro news.