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Displaying items by tag: Aquabusiness

Graduates from Wexford Campus' Aquabusiness course have celebrated the completion of their studies.

As the Wexford People highlighted, this is the only course of its kind in the country, as the Higher Diploma in Business in Aquabusiness is now in its fourth year and continues to be popular among young candidates.

'The 2019/2020 cohort graduated with a virtual ceremony,' said lecturer Amy Allen. 'Covid-19 impacted their second semester quite significantly in that a number were scheduled to start industrial placement and of course lockdown restrictions did not permit this.

'However, the course is flexible and, as a teaching team, we feel we are very flexible and responsive to the sector's situation, so we managed to transfer some of these students onto an interdisciplinary project (desk-based).

'Those who really want to complete the placement are being put on hold until restrictions ease and they can rejoin their sponsor companies.'

Among those graduating were three students from Wexford, and others from as far afield as Cork, Galway and Donegal.

'These guys are from the farmed fishing sector, some are also from Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) and work as marine biologists,' Ms Allen said.

More here from the newspaper.

Afloat adds according to BIM's website, the course is designed to cater for those looking to enter management, financial, research & development or regulatory roles in fisheries, aquaculture, seafood processing and related fields

Published in Fishing

About Brittany Ferries

In 1967 a farmer from Finistère in Brittany, Alexis Gourvennec, succeeded in bringing together a variety of organisations from the region to embark on an ambitious project: the aim was to open up the region, to improve its infrastructure and to enrich its people by turning to traditional partners such as Ireland and the UK. In 1972 BAI (Brittany-England-Ireland) was born.

The first cross-Channel link was inaugurated in January 1973, when a converted Israeli tank-carrier called Kerisnel left the port of Roscoff for Plymouth carrying trucks loaded with Breton vegetables such as cauliflowers and artichokes. The story, therefore, begins on 2 January 1973, 24 hours after Great Britain's entry into the Common Market (EEC).

From these humble beginnings however, Brittany Ferries as the company was re-named quickly opened up to passenger transport, then became a tour operator.

Today, Brittany Ferries has established itself as the national leader in French maritime transport: an atypical leader, under private ownership, still owned by a Breton agricultural cooperative.

Eighty five percent of the company’s passengers are British.

Key Brittany Ferries figures:

  • Turnover: €202.4 million (compared with €469m in 2019)
  • Investment in three new ships, Galicia plus two new vessels powered by cleaner LNG (liquefied natural gas) arriving in 2022 and 2023
  • Employment: 2,474 seafarers and shore staff (average high/low season)
  • Passengers: 752,102 in 2020 (compared with 2,498,354 in 2019)
  • Freight: 160,377 in 2020 (compared with 201,554 in 2019)
  • Twelve ships operating services that connect France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain (non-Covid year) across 14 routes
  • Twelve ports in total: Bilbao, Santander, Portsmouth, Poole, Plymouth, Cork, Rosslare, Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre, Saint-Malo, Roscoff
  • Tourism in Europe: 231,000 unique visitors, staying 2.6 million bed-nights in France in 2020 (compared with 857,000 unique visitors, staying 8,7 million bed-nights in 2019).