Fancy serving on a superyacht like the one owned by Roman Abramovich?

A major deal struck by the National Maritime College could signal Ireland’s arrival as world-leaders in safety training for personnel involved in the offshore gas and oil exploration sectors.

Entrepreneurs and business owners in the marine research sector have sharply criticised the decision of UCC and Cork Institute of Technology to withdraw funding and staffing from the Irish Maritime and Energy Research Cluster in Ringaskiddy.

A partnership between two third-level colleges and the Irish Naval Service to promote commercial maritime research has been mothballed for “not being fit for purpose”.

Twenty-five staff at the National Maritime College (NMCI) in Cork are to be told their jobs are still on the line, though progress has been made in a course accreditation row with the Department of Transport.

The National Maritime College of Ireland has accused the Department of Transport of engaging “in a turf war” that could threaten the international reputation of the college and render invalid training courses already completed by 400 students.

Staff at the National Maritime College have implored Transport Minister Shane Ross to intervene in a row which could threaten jobs at the Cork-based facility.

Cork county councillors have lodged an 11th-hour objection to plans by Indaver to build incinerators in Cork Harbour, and a local tourist body has done the same.

Irish experts in maritime survival techniques have trained six celebrities to cope with whatever the sea might throw at them during a treacherous charity voyage for BBC Sport Relief.

Maritime college students dressed in protection suits and air filtration masks were among 250 people who protested outside the site of a proposed major incinerator in Cork harbour.

The National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) is to establish the world’s largest training network for seamen, along with offshore oil and gas rig workers.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is set to officially open Ireland’s largest renewable energy test and research facility in Cork next weekend as part of the country’s first national maritime festival.

Ireland’s position as a world leader in maritime survival training is to be further cemented by a partnership of two Cork institutions which will design, build and run an offshore training centre in the Canary Islands.

Ireland’s only maritime college has set its sights on becoming the world’s first global training hub for officers of ocean-going super-tankers.

The 10 men who graduated as the navy’s newest officers yesterday handed over a cheque for more than €7,000 to a charity set up to prevent suicide among young people.

Tributes have been paid on the retirement of a respected academic administrator who helped deliver two of the State’s most critical pieces of educational infrastructure.

Ireland’s maritime training college will sign a landmark €2m training contract with one of the world’s largest shipping companies in Texas today.

As a Harbour resident and a boating enthusiast, the Marine Minister Simon Coveney is well-placed to oversee the progress in plans being made for his maritime backdoor, he tells Tommy Barker

A centre in Cork is aiming to become a global leader in training people operating small boats to cope with treacherous conditions in Arctic seas.

An unmanned aircraft and speed boat were deployed in a dramatic rescue of a sinking yacht at the mouth of Cork Harbour yesterday.

Shipping and other companies from the Middle East and beyond will be sending more workers for expert training in Cork over the next year.

A new €14m research lab will help make Ireland a global leader in marine renewable energy research, the energy minister was told yesterday.

PLANNING permission is being sought by University College Cork (UCC) for a new €11 million Maritime Research and Testing Centre which will ultimately be home to up to 150 research scientists.

THE HSE has requested that a baseline health study be completed around Cork Harbour before An Bord Pleanála consider sanctioning a toxic incinerator in Ringaskiddy.

BUILDING work on a €16 million national maritime and energy research centre is to begin in Cork within months.

THE Defence Forces’ top brass were present at Haulbowline naval base yesterday to watch the latest group of young officers being commissioned.

SIX naval cadets were commissioned yesterday in the presence of Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea.

VITAL maritime data is being transmitted from Norway to Ireland by high-speed broadband through fibre optic cables laid by Cork County Council.

LEARN how to escape from a capsized helicopter several metres under the sea. Battle a roaring blaze and thick smoke in the lower decks of an oil tanker. Feel the adrenaline as you and your crew struggle to stop your vessel flooding after a shell tears a hole in the side.

IRELAND’S first dedicated maritime college was in ship-shape form yesterday and is ready to open for lectures next Monday.