| 49 CentrePort - Seaview Resilience Project The upgrade will bring the Wellington facility up to international standards for ship berthing and bulk fuel discharge. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Solving underwater problems Underwater demolitions and construction, salvage of sunken boats and the installation, burial and maintenance of submarine internet and power cables are what the team at Lower Hutt based dive specialists Underwater Solutions thrives on, each and every day. Founded in 2011 by brothers Matt and Chris Fabish, Underwater Solutions’ irst major project was the removal of a sunken wreck from Vuna Wharf in Tonga, enabling a new wharf to be constructed. Following the success of that project the company was awarded a ten-year contract, with two ive-year extensions looking after the Cook Strait power cables on the seabed between the North and South Islands. Since then, Underwater Solutions has been kept busy with an array of challenging and exciting projects across New Zealand and the Paci ic. “We get to go to some pretty special places across New Zealand and throughout the Paci ic; places that you would just never get to unless you were going there for work,” says Matt. “We do a lot of work in Raoul Island, about 1000 kilometres north of New Zealand. It’s the largest and northernmost of the main Kermadec Islands, and New Zealand’s northernmost territory. Since July last year we’ve also been involved in underwater welding for a large wharf refurbishment project in Tonga, and have another year to go on that project.” As part of the Seaview Resilience project, Underwater Solutions has been assisting with the refurbishment of CentrePort’s Seaview Wharf since 2020. That underwater work has included cutting steel wharf piles, assisting with the placement of new piles, and the construction of under-wharf sca olding. Matt and Chris have recently established a new company called Marine Construction Services to complement the sub-surface work done by Underwater Solutions, by undertaking above water wharf repair and construction. That company is now involved in the demolition of the old Point Howard wharf as part of the same Seaview Resilience project. With a team of ive full time divers and drawing from a regular pool of skilled freelance divers, Underwater Solutions skill sets include construction, operating machinery, welding, cutting, driving boats. “Our success as a business has been about getting the right people involved, with the right experience and looking after them. We have divers who have been with us right from the start. We have some of the most experienced divers in the country by a long way; people want to work for us.” With a focus on safety, Underwater Solutions is in the process of obtaining its ISO health and safety certi ication, and to support its deeper jobs has recently purchased a decompression chamber, increasing its level of safety. Construction Diving Scientific & Environmental Demolition Marine Salvage Geotechnical Investigations Sub Marine Cables
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