Page 25 - IB December 2021

‘Celebrating Melanesia’s Newest Maritime Officers’

Melanesian marine services
business Pacific Towing (Pac-
Tow) is celebrating the re-
cent graduation of 10 female
‘Officers of the Watch’. The
Papua New Guinean women
represented the first intake of
scholarship awardees in the
trailblazing ‘Women in Mar-
itime’ program. The training
program is a partnership be-
tween PacTow, the Australian
Government, Swire Shipping,
and Consort Express Lines.
The Women in Maritime
program commenced in 2018.
To date, 26 women have been
awarded a scholarship as ei-
ther a Deck or Engine cadet.
A further four women will
commence the program in
2022.
The ten newly graduated
Officers of the Watch are now These PNG women represent five of the ten cadets from Pacific Towing who recently graduated as ‘Officers
of the Watch’ from the Women in Maritime program.
qualified to take on full watch
keeping duties in their capac-
ity as either a Mate3 or Engi-
neer 3. As such, they are poised to make vital contribu- Shipping vessels. Other cadets have experienced inter-
tions to growing and further professionalising Melanesia’s national sea time on Swire Pacific Offshore vessels.
shipping and marine services sector. General Manager of PacTow, Neil Papenfus, says that
PacTow also has its own in-house cadetship program. “international sea time exposes our cadets to much big-
Earlier in the year six cadets from this program graduat- ger, more sophisticated, and diverse vessels, than those
ed after having completed their final theoretical require- that typically enter Melanesian ports. This sort of experi-
ments and exams at the Fiji Maritime Academy. They are ence gives our graduates a real advantage in the employ-
now employed on PacTow tugs around the country with ment market, and the skills and knowledge they gain will
opportunities to work on salvage and ocean towage pro- benefit our region for decades to come.”
jects throughout Oceania and South East Asia. PacTow is the marine services market leader in Melane-
Scholarship holders in PacTow’s two cadetship pro- sia. Headquartered in PNG with a fleet of 25 vessels and
grams receive both classroom and practical training. The more than 200 staff (97 percent nationalised), the compa-
practical training comprises an onshore component, as ny also has an operation in Solomon Islands and a pres-
well as vital sea time. PNG sea time is on PacTow vessels ence in Fiji. In 2019-2020 PacTow salvaged the sunken
as well as on the vessels of sister company, Consort Ex- Southern Phoenix container ship from Fiji’s Suva harbour.
press Lines. Significantly, Swire Shipping provides the ca- A full member of the International Salvage Union and In-
dets with international sea time. During their cadetships, ternational Spill Control Organization, PacTow has com-
the recent graduates visited ports in Singapore, Vietnam, pleted more than 60 salvages and regularly provides oil
Australia, New Zealand, China, and Thailand on Swire spill response services.

To learn more about Pacific Towing: www.pacifictowingmarineservices.com

Islands Business, December 2021 25