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Displaying items by tag: Minimising Whale Strikes

The Nautical Institute is hosting a free webinar: Minimising Whale Strikes, Enhancing Mariners' Awareness of these Majestic Creatures which is to be held on Wednesday 15th February (9.00-10.30 GMT).

Seafarers have a love of the oceans and take great joy from sharing the environment with marine life. In fact mariners and shipping companies are often considered protectors of the oceans as can be seen by the huge efforts being made by individuals and the industry as a whole to prevent pollution at sea.

Sadly, despite our best efforts, strikes on marine mammals such as whales and dolphins continue to have an impact.

This Nautical Institute webinar seeks to explore the risk of whale strikes, help seafarers understand the nature of these mammals and identify how, with a bit of awareness, we can avoid striking them inadvertently and reduce harm against these magnificent animals which share our lives.

The following webinar Speakers are: MSC Vice President of Sustainability, MSC Mediterranean Shipping, Stefania Lallai; Dr Simon Berrow, Chief Science Officer and CEO of Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG); Sibéal Regan, IWDG Education and Outreach Officer; and National Geographic Explorer, Dr Rui Prieto, to discover the steps we can take to avoid whale strikes.

The free webinar from The Nautical Institute will be interactive, inviting feedback and questions from attendees and will provide a certificate of participation to all those who attend.

To register for this webinar click here

The Nautical Institute is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with consultative status at the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

Our aim is to promote professionalism, best practice and safety throughout the maritime industry and to represent the interests of our members.

Irish Whale & Dophin Group (Survey Weeks)

The IWDG was founded in 1990 to establish an All-Ireland sighting and stranding scheme and to campaign for the declaration of Irish territorial waters as a whale and dolphin sanctuary.

For further information visit the IWDG website, noting that dates for their survey weeks are now open for those to join them on board their research vessel, the RV Celtic Mist. 

By becoming a member, come on board to help us collect important data on whales, dolphins, and porpoises in our waters. For details visit this LINK: 

Published in Marine Wildlife

Marine Institute Research Vessel Tom Crean

Ireland’s new marine research vessel will be named the RV Tom Crean after the renowned County Kerry seaman and explorer who undertook three major groundbreaking expeditions to the Antarctic in the early years of the 20th Century which sought to increase scientific knowledge and to explore unreached areas of the world, at that time.

Ireland's new multi-purpose marine research vessel RV Tom Crean, was delivered in July 2022 and will be used by the Marine Institute and other State agencies and universities to undertake fisheries research, oceanographic and environmental research, seabed mapping surveys; as well as maintaining and deploying weather buoys, observational infrastructure and Remotely Operated Vehicles.

The RV Tom Crean will also enable the Marine Institute to continue to lead and support high-quality scientific surveys that contribute to Ireland's position as a leader in marine science. The research vessel is a modern, multipurpose, silent vessel (designed to meet the stringent criteria of the ICES 209 noise standard for fisheries research), capable of operating in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The Tom Crean is able to go to sea for at least 21 days at a time and is designed to operate in harsh sea conditions.

RV Tom Crean Specification Overview

  • Length Overall: 52.8 m
  • Beam 14m
  • Draft 5.2M 

Power

  • Main Propulsion Motor 2000 kw
  • Bow Thruster 780 kw
  • Tunnel thruster 400 kw

Other

  • Endurance  21 Days
  • Range of 8,000 nautical miles
  • DP1 Dynamic Positioning
  • Capacity for 3 x 20ft Containers

Irish Marine Research activities

The new state-of-the-art multi-purpose marine research vessel will carry out a wide range of marine research activities, including vital fisheries, climate change-related research, seabed mapping and oceanography.

The new 52.8-metre modern research vessel, which will replace the 31-metre RV Celtic Voyager, has been commissioned with funding provided by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine approved by the Government of Ireland.

According to Aodhán FitzGerald, Research Vessel Manager of the MI, the RV Tom Crean will feature an articulated boom crane aft (6t@ 10m, 3T@ 15m), located on the aft-gantry. This will be largely used for loading science equipment and net and equipment handling offshore.

Mounted at the stern is a 10T A-frame aft which can articulate through 170 degrees which are for deploying and recovering large science equipment such as a remotely operated vehicle (ROV’s), towed sleds and for fishing operations.

In addition the fitting of an 8 Ton starboard side T Frame for deploying grabs and corers to 4000m which is the same depth applicable to when the vessel is heaving but is compensated by a CTD system consisting of a winch and frame during such operations.

The vessel will have the regulation MOB boat on a dedicated davit and the facility to carry a 6.5m Rigid Inflatable tender on the port side.

Also at the aft deck is where the 'Holland 1' Work class ROV and the University of Limericks 'Etain' sub-Atlantic ROV will be positioned. In addition up to 3 x 20’ (TEU) containers can be carried.

The newbuild has been engineered to endure increasing harsher conditions and the punishing weather systems encountered in the North-East Atlantic where deployments of RV Tom Crean on surveys spent up to 21 days duration.

In addition, RV Tom Crean will be able to operate in an ultra silent-mode, which is crucial to meet the stringent criteria of the ICES 209 noise standard for fisheries research purposes.

The classification of the newbuild as been appointed to Lloyds and below is a list of the main capabilities and duties to be tasked by RV Tom Crean:

  • Oceanographic surveys, incl. CTD water sampling
  • Fishery research operations
  • Acoustic research operations
  • Environmental research and sampling operation incl. coring
  • ROV and AUV/ASV Surveys
  • Buoy/Mooring operations