Cork maritime training college lands US deal

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

The deal between the global giant Chevron Shipping Company and GAC Training and Service Solutions (GTSS) — a joint venture between the National Maritime College of Ireland in Co Cork and GAC, a global shipping, logistics and marine services provider — is the single largest maritime training contract in the history of the Irish State.

It will result in the maritime college delivering a range of training courses to about 450 Chevron Shipping officers from around the world at its state-of-the-art Ringaskiddy facility — a constituent college of Cork Institute of Technology — over the next four years.

The courses will include skills training for Chevron’s entire junior officer corps, and engine room workshop skills for its junior engineers.

The agreement will be confirmed at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston today at a signing ceremony which will be attended by Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton; Terry Luke, Chevron’s manager of Marine Employee Learning and Development; and Conor Mowlds, the head of the NMCI and the managing director of GTSS.

Mr Mowlds said they are delighted to have agreed the long-term training contract with Chevron, which cements NMCI’s reputation as a world-class institution.

“This agreement is testament to the high regard in which the NMCI and GTSS services are held by one of the world’s foremost shipping companies and oil majors,” he said.

“It also helps broaden our engagement with Chevron, which, up to now, has been focused on the provision of cadets.

“Our attention is now firmly focused on delivering a tailor-made training course that meets Chevron’s bespoke needs and a first-class training experience for every one of the 450 officers that will be coming to Cork during the next four years,” said Mr Mowlds.

Chevron Shipping also plans to make a significant investment in equipment at the NMCI.

This element of the deal will result in a huge boost for Cork-based SEFtec — a company which makes safety training simulators and facilities for the world’s leading maritime training centres.

The NMCI and SEFtec also have a joint venture called SEFtec NMCI Offshore that delivers training services for the oil and gas industry.

Chevron transports crude oil, refined products, liquefied petroleum gas and liquefied natural gas for customers worldwide and has a long-standing global relationship with both the NMCI for cadets and GAC for shipping services.