Ireland is to sign its largest maritime training contract ever this week with Chevron Shipping, which transports fuel worldwide for Chevron, the world's third largest oil producer by market value.
The National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) and GAC, a global shipping, logistics and marine services provider, will train 450 officers with Chevron Shipping under a four-year contract.
The contract for the new joint venture, known as GAC Training and Service Solutions (GTSS), will be confirmed in Houston, Texas today at a signing ceremony attended by Minister for Jobs and Enterprise Richard Bruton and the NMCI head, Conor Mowlds.
Mr Bruton is currently on an Enterprise Ireland trade mission in the US.
Chevron Shipping Company transports crude oil, refined products, liquefied petroleum gas and liquefied natural gas for Chevron customers worldwide.
Under the agreement, GTSS will train Chevron Shipping’s entire junior officer corps, and its junior engineers.
More than 450 Chevron officers from around the world are expected to participate.
NMCI is a constituent college of Cork Institute of Technology, based at Ringaskiddy, and offers training to both the Naval Service and the merchant marine.
It is expected that Chevron Shipping will also be making a significant equipment investment at the NMCI, including a fo’c’sle (forecastle) head arrangement, winch, drum, and crane. The fo’c’sle is the foremost part of a ship’s upper deck.
The development of the foc’s’cle head arrangement is supported by SEFtec, a Cork-based small and medium enterprise that produces safety training simulators and facilities for the world’s leading training centres.
Mr Mowlds has said that the new agreement with Chevron 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”.
“It also helps broaden our engagement with Chevron which, up to now, has been focused on the provision of cadets only,”he noted. The college hopes the deal will lead to more contracts of a similar nature.
