Do you know anyone interested in a career in the maritime industry? Do you know someone with a passion for water and looking to learn real-world skills and qualifications?

If so, The Irish Nautical Trust has just the thing for you, with spaces available on its Comprehensive Maritime Training Course starting in January 2024.

The syllabus covers a range of topics aimed at preparing individuals for a career on the water. It is suitable for anyone aged 18 and over, from any background, who is currently unemployed or thinking of a career change.

This is a full-time course and applicants must be available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, for 12 weeks starting Monday 15 January.

Applicants will need to be physically fit and prepared to be in demanding conditions as this is a challenging course — physically and mentally.

The syllabus covers a range of topics aimed at preparing trainees for a career on the water, and there is a substantial amount of on-course learning required. Topics will include:

• Certifications
• ENG11 Medical Fitness Certificate STCW Personal Survival
• Techniques STCW Elementary First Aid
• VHF Short Range Radio Licence Power Boat Level 2 Licence
• Guaranteed minimum of 50 logged hours of on-the-water boat training (ISA Commercial Endorsement)

Participants will also develop skills in:

• Vessel Maintenance and Boat Preparation
• Coastal Navigation
• Admiralty Charts
• Passage Planning
• Weather Analysis and Forecast Interpretation
• Tides and Tidal Theory
• Buoyage and Navigating in Pilotage Water

To sign up, or for more information, please contact Jimmy at [email protected] or 086 013 8921.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe, T.D. was at the Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club Marina, Ringsend on the River Liffey today, to present scholarship certificates to the first cohort of students completing the inaugural Irish Nautical Trust Marine Skills & Technology scholarship programme.

As Afloat previously reported, the scholarship was launched in October 2021 as part of the Google Employment Task Force. Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, provided €300,000 to the Irish Nautical Trust to develop a community-based environment maritime training programme aimed at educating local unemployed people and school leavers on the environment. The funding supports access for 30 students to obtain a certified level of maritime skills and enable them to gain sustainable employment in the marine industry. Today, nine students have been awarded certificates with four of the nine already having secured employment.

Speaking at today’s event, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe, T.D. said,“I am delighted to be here today to recognise the Maritime Skills & Technology programmes’ early achievements. The employment opportunities this programme provides to the students will play a key role in building a brighter future not just for the students but also the wider community. Already four participants from the first cohort have been successful in achieving employment and I look forward to hearing more in the future on the progress of this important programme.”

Shane Nolan, Managing Director, New Business, Google Ireland, said, “Today is about recognising the importance of programmes like the Irish Nautical Trust, Maritime Skills & Technology programme in the community. At Google Ireland, we are committed to supporting our local community and working closely with them to address challenges they face. The Irish Nautical Trust is also an integral member of our Employment Task Force in the local community enabling us to share our digital expertise and experience with our neighbours and the wider Docklands community. We see the opportunity that embracing new skills provides for greater employment opportunities. I look forward to working with our partners, building new pilot projects such as this one and reaching more job seekers.”

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe T.D. (centre) today presented scholarship certificates to the first students to complete the inaugural Irish Nautical Trust Marine Skills & Technology scholarship programme, supported by Google.org at the Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club Ringsend, Dublin, alongside Shane Nolan (right), Director of New Business Sales at Google, Teresa Weafer (left), Head of Community Engagement at Google and Jimmy Murray, (far left) Course Director at the Irish Nautical Trust, with scholarship students & recipients Philip Murphy (left of centre), Frank Hopkins (right of centre) and Cathriona Walsh (far right). Photo: Naoise Culhane

Jimmy Murray, Course Director, said, “We need people with skills to maintain our state's investment in bridges, walls, rivers, canals and ports. The many contractors that will help expand our community and port environment and biosphere will require skilled people with the added richness of technology. This programme is designed to provide these very skills being taught through this pilot project. I would like to thank our main sponsor for the Maritime Skills Programme, Google .Org.

I also wish to acknowledge the support from Covanta Dublin and Dublin Port Company for their contributions, in giving their time, resources and knowledge and to commend them in recognising the value and opportunity this project will bring to the Docklands community. I would also like to congratulate our participants who received awards today.” 

Students participating in the Marine Skills and Technology scholarship programme will receive:

• Maritime skills training
• Digital support programme focused on technology skills on the river
• Access to employment opportunities through dedicated maritime services

"The only proven way young people will get to know their job and environment is learning while doing". That's the verdict of the Irish Nautical Trust's Jimmy Murray, who has launched a new River Liffey-based maritime training course on the capital's waters.

The community initiative sponsored by Google began this year and had the dual mandate of preserving the area's nautical heritage and creating long-term sustainable employment in the Dublin Port and Docklands.

Dublin Port and Docklands is a busy commercial port with many different types of vessels operating on the River Liffey

"We are hopeful that doing this will help those who come on board to obtain a certified level of maritime skills to enable them to gain sustainable employment in the maritime industry", Murray told Afloat.

The Trust aims to put up to 75% of its trainees in permanent employment within local maritime companies, with a further 15% going on to further maritime education.

Dublin Port Company operates a variety of boats on the River Liffey including its newest Pilot Boat, named DPC Tolka pictured here on arrival greeted by tugboat Shackleton and pilot boat Liffey arriving into Dublin Port. The state-of-the-art vessel will allow marine pilots to reach and board larger ships in all weather conditions from a greater distance out into Dublin Bay. Photo: Conor McCabe Photography

"The objective of our project is to create a maritime training programme to educate local unemployed people so they can attain a certified level of employment in the marine industry at Ireland's busiest port", Murray says.

There are no existing solutions to supply a certified workforce for maritime employment opportunities in Dublin Port.

Historically, maritime knowledge in the port has passed down between generations, and Murray hopes to keep this tradition alive by adding commercial certification for its course graduates.

The courses run by the Trust and supported by the Dublin Port Company are, according to Murray, unique to the Liffey environment and the Dublin Port area.

Seafaring technicians from the local area as well as external contractors approved by the Marine Survey Office (MSO), Royal Yachting Association (RYA) and Irish Sailing (ISA) will carry out the courses over a series of different modules.

Courses in 2022

The aim is to operate three courses in 2022. Each course will be carried out over 14 weeks under the Nautical Trust's Head instructor, Jimmy Dent.

Students do not require any educational qualifications or previous marine experience before joining the course, but Safe Pass and Manual Handling certification are required before the course starts.

The plan is for the courses to provide opportunities on the Liffey similar to what is available at the Maritime College in Cork and the Seamanship Centre in Donegal.

The experience gained from the introductory Marine Training Programme will give trainees the foundations to seek employment in the marine industry and prepare them to advance into further marine education.

Student tuition - The Irish Nautical Trust has devised a 14-week community based comprehensive Maritime Training Course for up to 10 students per course. The training is suitable for looking to begin a pathway to the Maritime Industry. Photo: INT

Seafaring

Course modules will include an introduction to Dublin Port and a code of practice for anyone involved in dock work. There will also be classes on seamanship, navigation and pilotage, as well as marine engine and hull maintenance. 

An introduction to powerboating will demonstrate safe boat handling for Irish waters and the course includes a period of practical workboat experience on the river. 

The skills learned are essential for anyone considering a career on any boats that ply the Liffey, such as tour, cruise and ferry boats. Workboats such as tugs and pilot boats and educational boats such as training vessels.

"We hope to establish a working relationship with marine businesses by creating a linked work experience programme with the many companies that already operate within the port", Murray says. 

At the end of five years, Murray says he expects the Trust will have graduated a minimum of 120 students into full-time employment or further education in the maritime sector.

In the future, Murray also hopes the training model will go beyond the Dublin Docklands and grow to include other communities throughout Ireland that wish to embrace this type of training.  

Irish Nautical Trust Maritime Training Entry Requirements

• Minimum 18 years of age
• Not in full-time education
• Genuine interest in pursuing a career in the maritime sector
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Working knowledge of the English language
• Standard Medical fitness to include an eye test including colour vision

Courses began in February 2022. Contact Irish Nautical Trust at [email protected] or call 01- 66 88 113

Jimmy Murray, Director of the Irish Nautical Trust in Dublin, is our "Sailor of the Month" for April in the Environmental category for the key role he played in the commissioning of the purpose-built Liffey Sweeper, which appropriately made its debut with the backing of Dublin Port on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22nd.

The well-established Irish Nautical Trust has been active for years in bringing the port and the young people of the city together in various projects. But the innovative concept of the marine-debris-gathering Liffey Sweeper has captured public imagination in a special way by pressing all the right buttons regarding many contemporary concerns.

Working with leading waste-recycling companies, the Sweeper is operating in the Liffey from Butt Bridge seawards, and will also gather rubbish in the Dodder and the Tolka Estuary. With the busy City of Dublin and the highly active Dublin Port located cheek-by-jowl with an Internationally-Recognised Biosphere, the value of the work being done by Jimmy Murray and his young crews simply cannot be over-estimated.

"Whither, O Splendid Ship…..?" If Handsome is as Handsome does, then the totally purpose-designed Liffey Sweeper is a very handsome vessel indeed. Photo: Conor McCabe