Tuesday, 09 June 2009

SWEDISH SAIL TRAINING SHIP T/S GUNILLA MAKES RETURN VISIT TO SCALLOWAY HARBOUR

The Swedish sail training ship T/S Gunilla has made a return visit to Scalloway Harbour and will be in port from today (Tuesday 9 June) until Friday.

The three-masted, square-rigged ship of around 60 metres in length made her first-ever visit to Scalloway last year and, as the trip was such a success, the crew decided to include Shetland in this year’s programme.

On-board are 24 marine biologist and 20 nautical studies students.  The marine biology students will have the opportunity to listen to a variety of presentations by NAFC Marine Centre staff on topics including: Shetland’s fishing and aquaculture industries; the shellfish stock assessment and research programme; an overview of ISA and the controls put in place; the wrasse research programme; and work undertaken in the benthic laboratory.  The nautical studies students will attend a Marine Accident Investigations presentation at the Centre delivered by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.

The students will also tour the Centre’s campus, and a reciprocal visit to tour the vessel’s facilities will be made by Shetland School of Nautical Studies staff and Merchant Navy deck and engineer officer cadets.

NAFC Marine Centre director, Professor David Gray, commented: “The T/S Gunilla is a floating classroom that gives students the opportunity to incorporate real life experiences into their training.  We very much look forward to meeting the students on-board their ship, as well as giving them a tour of our facilities. 

“Having another educational facility arriving on our doorstep presents an extremely valuable opportunity to exchange best practice, bringing significant benefits to everyone involved.”

Further information:

For further information, please contact: Professor David Gray, NAFC Marine Centre, tel 01595 772000, email info@nafc.uhi.ac.uk or visit www.nafc.ac.uk

Or, Louise Rosie, Shaw Marketing and Design Ltd, tel 01595 692465, email louise.rosie@shaw-online.com or visit www.shaw-online.com

Notes to editor:

The T/S Gunilla is operated by the upper secondary school Öckerö Gymnasieskola, located on the island of Öckerö outside Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden.