Pacific Towing on on track to completing first major project in Fiji

SUVA: Pacific Towing is on track to successfully complete its first major project in Fiji since registering a new business there in Deember last year.
The marine services company also operates out of Solomon Islands and is the first business in the Steamships Group to set up in Fiji.
Based at the main wharf in Suva, Pacific Towing’s newest business employs four PNG divers and six Fiji locals. The team of divers, engineers, welders and a crane operator is characterised by a raft of diverse skills and is presently engaged in the wreck retrieval of the container ship Southern Phoenix which capsized and sank in Suva Harbour on May 6, 2017.
Pacific Towing commenced the multi-stage retrieval of the 88-metre long vessel in November last year and is anticipated to complete the project by next month.
Wreck retrieval can be technically challenging and high risk. “Safety of our staff as well as safety of the reef is critical for the Southern Phoenix project and a lot of careful planning is necessary – but, of course, these plans mean nothing when unexpected bad weather picks up” explains Marine operations manager, Camara Geita.
He stresses that this is just one reason having Fiji staff is so important to ensuring projects stay on schedule as “no one knows Fiji’s waterways, reefs and weather patterns like the locals do”.
Although local knowledge will be a key ingredient to Pacific Towing’s success in Fiji, so too will be an investment in training.
Pacific Towing staff benefit from training in numerous countries including Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Denmark, Qatar and Australia.
General manager Neil Papenfus reports that last year his staff received an average of 377 hours of training each.
He sees no reason to do things differently in Fiji and one of the local divers there is confirmed to travel to Australia mid-year where he will complete his commercial dive training to Commercial Diver Level 1.