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Displaying items by tag: Strikeaction

Workers who are members of Ireland's largest trade union, SIPTU have notified Zenith Energy Bantry Bay Terminals located on Cork's south-west coast, that they will take strike action next month.

The strike according to the Irish Examiner, is set to take place on 13 December at Whiddy Island where the storage facility provides for 1.4m cubic metres of crude oil,diesel,kerosene and petrol.

For more than 50 years the terminal has played a critical role in European energy storage and which has the ability to receive vessels up to the size of Vary Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) at their dedicated single-point mooring as Afloat's photograph depicts above.

The dispute concerns compulsory redundancies at the terminal in which the US based (Houston, Texas) energy company as Afloat reported in 2015 acquired the Whiddy terminal from Phillips66. 

Siptu's organiser Willie Noone said “This action results from the decision of the company to dismiss workers with long service on Wednesday, November 30, while planning to employ contractors on an ongoing basis to do their work”

Zenith which employs 31 in permanent positions at the terminal is undertaking a restructuring process which involves implementing five redundancies. 

In additon to the Irish terminal, Zenith has a terminal in the Netherlands in Amstedam and throughout the USA.

Published in Coastal Notes

Tom Dolan, Solo Offshore Sailor

Even when County Meath solo sailor Tom Dolan had been down the numbers in the early stages of the four-stage 2,000 mile 2020 Figaro Race, Dolan and his boat were soon eating their way up through the fleet in any situation which demanded difficult tactical decisions.

His fifth overall at the finish – the highest-placed non-French sailor and winner of the Vivi Cup – had him right among the international elite in one of 2020's few major events.

The 33-year-old who has lived in Concarneau, Brittany since 2009 but grew up on a farm in rural County Meath came into the gruelling four-stage race aiming to get into the top half of the fleet and to underline his potential to Irish sailing administrators considering the selection process for the 2024 Olympic Mixed Double Offshore category which comes in for the Paris games.