The naval industry, the technological and scientific challenges posed by MREs, a look at the missions of government players at sea and an exchange with maritime pilots on French port strategy were all on the agenda at the seminar in Saint-Nazaire and Nantes for students in the 'Maritime Challenges and Strategies' major.
After a late arrival in Saint Nazaire on Wednesday 22 May, the audience had a short night's rest before starting the day with a general presentation of the "Chantiers de l'Atlantique" by Laurent Castaing, Managing Director of the Chantiers.
La matinée s’est poursuivie par une intervention sur le porte-avions de nouvelle génération effectuée par le tandem Olivier de Saint Julien (Naval Group) et Hugues Martel (Chantiers de l’Atlantique), de la société commune « MO Porte-avions » (65% NG, 35%CA), before concluding with a round-table discussion on marine renewable energy with experts Frédéric Grizaud (CA offshore energy) and Yves Pérignon (OPEN-C). The lunch that followed allowed the audience to continue their discussions with the various speakers.
After lunch, the audience continued their tour of the shipbuilding industry with a visit to Chantiers de l'Atlantique, firstly to see the manufacturing process, then to the slipway housing the brand new BRF (force replenishment ship) being built for the French Navy, and finally to the cruise ship Utopia of the Seas, due to be delivered to Royal Carribean International in mid-June.
The major then headed for the SNSM training centre, where they were welcomed by Didier Moreau, Director of Training, who gave a general presentation of the SNSM and the volunteer training process, before giving a tour of the simulator. The day then ended with a presentation by the Manche-Nord Sea-Atlantic customs coastguards and one of their launches.
The following day, the auditors met as a committee at IFREMER to make the final changes to their committee reports and prepare for the presentations, which will take place on 13 June in Paris.
The seminar then moved to the Work'In Salorges premises of the Nantes Saint Nazaire Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where the audience was treated to two presentations, the first on the national port strategy, by Nicolas Trift, deputy director of the DGITM, and the second on the role of maritime pilots, by André Gaillard, newly elected president of the French federation of port pilots. The seminar then ended with a visit to the SPSA simulator used to train harbour pilots, followed by a demonstration.
In addition to the knowledge acquired and the enriching exchanges at the seminar, these two days were also an opportunity to establish links with several students from previous sessions of the major, who are still volunteering to organise visits for the current session, thus illustrating the perfect dynamic of mutual aid that prevails among students of the ESM major, all sessions included.
