oct-2017

118 119 five-year contract to perform search and recovery services for the U.S. Navy. “Phoenix International is celebrating our 20th anniversary this month,” says Compa- ny President, Patrick Keenan.“We were founded in September of ’97, initially com- peting for the U.S. Navy Diving Services Contract.Winning this major contract was the beginning of our company that now has expanded into many service lines and a worldwide footprint. Basically,we are an underwater service provider. In addition to underwater repairs on Navy ships,we do those same types of repairs on commercial ships.We also provide submarine rescue ca- pability for the U.S.Navy, conduct deep ocean search and recoverymissions for military and civil clients, and we have an oil and gas division that performs inspection, repair, and maintenance of off- shore infrastructure.” Phoenixmaintains and provides surface supplied air,mixed gas, and Nitrox diving systems to conduct underwater tasks from the surface to 300 fsw (feet of seawater).“We also have one-atmosphere suits in which our pilots can work at 1,200 fsw,” says Keenan. “We own and deploy remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous under- PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC. sea vehicles (AUVs) to locate and recover objects that have been lost in the deep ocean.We have an AUV that can dive to 5,000 meters and ROVs that can descend to 6,000 meters. Among other projects,we have been on the Titanic filming; we have participated in the search and recovery for Air France 447; and we recovered the SS EL FARO’s voyage data recorder. So, our company has expanded significantly from its initial origins 20 years ago of being a diving service contractor solely for the U.S.Navy.” Keenan credits this evolution and growth to a combination of planning and taking advantage of changing conditions and opportu- nities “We now have 235 employ- ees,” he says, “and our locations are predominantly in the United States. Our headquarters are in Largo, Maryland, which is just east of Washington, D.C., but we operate from the major U.S. fleet concentration areas -Norfolk, San Diego, and Pearl Harbor.We also have a commercial underwater ship repair division in Fort Lauderdale,which was focused initially on the cruise industry, but now services tankers, bulkers, general cargo, container, and vehicle carriers.And we have offices in Bayou Vista, Louisiana, and Houston that give us access to the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to those U.S. locales,we have a joint venture in Perth,Australia with Infinity Subsea to market our atmosphere diving capability to the offshore oil and gas sector in Australia.We currently don’t have an employee there, but the JV is established and we fly people back and forth.” One of the technologies that separates Phoenix Holdings from other underwater services providers is underwater