BIM plans to create sea survival training centre
To be completed by 2017, the new facility will serve fishermen from Clare, Galway, Sligo, Donegal and the northern counties of the east coast, including Louth and Dublin.
The new centre follows BIM’s recent ‘Live to Tell the Tale’ campaign, which encouraged fishermen to wear a personal flotation device.
BIM’s chief executive Tara McCarthy said: “Without the right training, fishermen will not know how to react when faced with an accident at sea. Preparing fishermen for the worst case scenario is crucial to reducing fatalities.
“This new centre will allow our trainers to test what fishermen have learnt in the classroom with the reality of a genuine incident at sea against a range of adverse weather conditions.”
Features at the Greencastle centre will include a 15m simulator pool with an elevated platform equipped with a wave machine, water spray unit, and fans to reproduce extreme weather conditions.
It will also have changing areas, a heating unit capable of maintaining water temperature of 23-28 degrees Celsius, a water treatment unit, and a classroom for 16 students.
The centre already has a fire fighting unit, a fishing vessel simulator, a vessel dry land trawler deck, an engine room, a workshop, and seven classrooms.
