Bristow Ireland Reaches Deal With Irish Coast Guard Air Crew Union for Staff Transfer

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Bristow Ireland Reaches Deal With Irish Coast Guard Air Crew Union for Staff Transfer

Bristow Ireland has reached agreement with Fórsa and its sub-branch the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association Credit: Afloat.ie The new contractor to provide search and rescue services for the Irish Coast Guard has reached and agreement with the union representing air crew. As RTÉ News reports , the deal between Bristow Ireland and the union branches representing both coastguard pilots and technical crew, such as winch operators, covers terms of employment and dispute resolution. The agreement will allow for these employees’ transfer from CHC Ireland to Bristow in 2025 when the new 10-year contract will be fully operational. Pilots are represented by the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (IALPA) branch of Fórsa, and Fórsa represents technical staff including winch crew. Bristow said it is continuing to engage with the Unite trade union, which represents engineering staff, with further discussions due in early 2024. A transition plan has been drawn up with Fórsa and IALPA for the date when Bristow takes over the contract in 2025. It is currently held by CHC Ireland which has initiated a court action. The employees involved will transition to Bristow up to June 2025, in line with the intended transition plan and schedule. Bristow described the agreement as a key milestone in the successful transition of search and rescue operations. Bristow Ireland is due to provide six AW189 helicopters from the existing Irish Coast Guard SAR bases in Shannon, Sligo, Waterford, and Dublin. The new contract will include a fixed-wing aircraft service, with an option for the Air Corps to take over this element. Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team. Have you got a story for our reporters?Email us here . The Afloat daily newsletter highlights the best of our editors' picks, as well as the latest content from other popular sections of our website. We will only ever use your details to send you our enews and never pass them onto third parties.

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More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open. Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you. The Irish Coast Guard is Ireland's fourth 'Blue Light' service (along with An Garda Síochána, the Ambulance Service and the Fire Service). It provides a nationwide maritime emergency organisation as well as a variety of services to shipping and other government agencies. The purpose of the Irish Coast Guard is to promote safety and security standards, and by doing so, prevent as far as possible, the loss of life at sea, and on inland waters, mountains and caves, and to provide effective emergency response services and to safeguard the quality of the marine environment. The Irish Coast Guard has responsibility for Ireland's system of marine communications, surveillance and emergency management in Ireland's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and certain inland waterways. It is responsible for the response to, and co-ordination of, maritime accidents which require search and rescue and counter-pollution and ship casualty operations. It also has responsibility for vessel traffic monitoring. Operations in respect of maritime security, illegal drug trafficking, illegal migration and fisheries enforcement are co-ordinated by other bodies within the Irish Government. On average, each year, the Irish Coast Guard is expected to:

• assist 4,500 people and save about 200 lives
• task Coast Guard helicopters on missions

The Coast Guard has been aroundin some form in Irelandsince 1908.

Coast Guard helicopters

The Irish Coast Guard has contracted five medium-lift Sikorsky Search and Rescue helicopters deployed at bases in Dublin, Waterford, Shannon and Sligo. The helicopters are designated wheels up from initial notification in 15 minutes during daylight hours and 45 minutes at night. One aircraft is fitted and its crew trained for under slung cargo operations up to 3000kgs and is available on short notice based at Waterford. These aircraft respond to emergencies at sea, inland waterways, offshore islands and mountains of Ireland (32 counties). They can also be used for assistance in flooding, major inland emergencies, intra-hospital transfers, pollution, and aerial surveillance during daylight hours, lifting and passenger operations and other operations as authorised by the Coast Guard within appropriate regulations. The Irish Coast Guard provides nationwide maritime emergency response, while also promoting safety and security standards. It aims to prevent the loss of life at sea, on inland waters, on mountains and in caves; and to safeguard the quality of the marine environment. Web Design & Development by Red Evolution #J-18808-Ljbffr