Explosive disposal unit receives equipment

THE explosive ordinance disposal and clearance diving (EOD) Unit of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) maritime arm commissioned K40,000 worth of diving equipment at Lancron Naval Base on Wednesday.
Unit commander Lt Henry Beri said the gear was much needed as they had not been able to carry out dives for ordinance disposal in two years.
Beri said now that they had the equipment, they could prepare for the next dive.
“The unit provides explosive ordinance disposal for the PNGDF and the country, both on land and at sea,” he said.
“We depend on diving equipment to do our duty under water.”
Beri said the equipment was acquired last year with the help of Lt Nathan Thavara from the National Surveillance Coordination Centre, and the PNGDF’s procurement branch.
He said that it was very difficult to get the equipment as most of what they needed could not be found within the country.
He said they had initially tried to get the equipment through another party but there were Covid-19 restrictions.
Beri said they got the equipment they have now from PNG Fishing Tackle.
“This marks the start of bigger things, we have the equipment now and we are looking to get out recompression chamber fixed,” he said.
“Once that is done, we can run through dive training and this will better prepare us for diving and for ordinance disposal at sea.”
Beri said the last time they did a dive for explosive ordinance at sea was two years ago.
He said there were a lot more World War Two era ordinance yet to be disposed of.
Head of the HMPNGS Basilisk Lt C/der Roy Dromenge thanked the members of the EOD Unit for their continued dedication to the force and the country.
“The equipment is a great capability boost to the unit and will help them function as required,” he said.
The gear consists of four sets of scuba gear as well as six diving masks and six pairs of fins and gloves each.