The opening session of the program was held at the Maritime Culture Centre of the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk. The participants presented their competition projects entitled ‘My Future with Offshore Wind’.Organizers and partners of the program presented their activities. At the exhibition “The Baltic Sea. A Sea of Green Energy”, hosted by Equinor and Polenergia, the students were introduced to the history and environment of offshore wind energy, the offshore wind farms construction process, and the implementation of the Bałtyk offshore wind projects the exhibition “The Baltic Sea. A Sea of Green Energy”, hosted by Equinor and Polenergia.

Safety is a top priority for Equinor and Polenergia, for the Bałtyk projects, and for the offshore wind industry as a whole. The first practical training session was held at the Inter Marine Education and Training Centre and focused on GWO BST – Basic Safety Training. The programme included training modules in FA (First Aid), WAH (Working at Heights), MH (Manual Handling) and FA (Fire Awareness). In addition, courses in BTT (Bolt Tightening Training) and ART (Advanced Rescue Training) were presented. Participation in the session allowed students to experience the scope of certification training required for employees in the offshore industry.

During the Offshore Expert Panel, students explored the realities of the offshore wind energy sector from the perspective of industry practitioners thanks to representatives of Equinor, Polenergia, the Polish Offshore Wind Energy Chamber, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Hitachi Energy, Seaway7, and MEWO. The meeting presented global and Polish development scenarios as well as future trends in offshore wind energy. 

Students also learned about available career paths and employment prospects in the offshore sector, including opportunities at the Operations and Maintenance Base for the Bałtyk 2 and 3 projects in Łeba. The panel provided an opportunity to gain specialist knowledge directly from experienced managers and experts in the offshore wind industry. 

Experts from MEWO took participants on a fascinating journey into the depths of the Morze Bałtyckie. They have presented the company’s scope of activities,methods used to study the marine environment and seabed, as well as how they analyze the data and what can be conducted from it. The presentation of specialized research equipment, and its practical applications, was one of the most engaging elements of the visit

Participants also visited the company’s workshop and warehouse, where they learned how the equipment is constructed, prepared for fieldwork, serviced, and stored between successive research expeditions. Thanks to this, they also saw how work looks like from a practical point of view, how long the processes take and how to prepare form them. The visit helped them better understand the importance of environmental research for offshore projects and gain insight into everyday work at a dynamically developing company in the marine sector.

Participants of the Setting the Course for Offshore program visited Mostostal Pomorze, where they learned about the scope of activities of a company delivering fabrication projects for the offshore sector worldwide. During the presentations, company representatives discussed topsides structures and secondary steel components for offshore wind farms, including components manufactured for projects led by Equinor. Participants also had the opportunity to learn about the production process, modern steel processing technologies used at the facility. The impressive scale of the company’s operations, as well as the size and tonnage of the components manufactured for offshore projects made a particularly strong impression on the visitors.

Schedule 

11:00-11:15 – Greeting guests and a word from HR Director – Adam Sawicki PhD in economics, long time HR Director in manufacturing companies and international organizations

11:15-11:30 – Baltic Towers presentation

11:30-12:00 – Workshop "Entering the Job Market... How to Prepare? and Q&A session – Aneta Zielińska, HR specialist, PhD in sociology and HR with 15 years of experience in BP

12:00-12:15 – Pre-production safety briefing

12:15-13:45 – Visit to the production hall / meeting with the manager

13:45-14:00 – Summary