NEWS & BLOG

An insight into Maxidive and its customers

What do you think are the reasons for customers returning to MAXIDIVE?

Maxidive isn’t only the largest and best-equipped Underwater Ship Service in Thailand, but we are a one-stop service for any ship or fleet size in Thailand. Yes, most of our work is Underwater Class Approved Inspections, Hull Cleaning, Propeller Polishing, or advance Hull and Rudder repairs, but we are not limited to only underwater jobs. We have a fully equipped marine workshop at our disposal, able to fabricate, repair and instal various products, such as cranes or hydraulic systems. It’s not only the outstanding safety record and quality of the work we guarantee but also the sustainability we can offer our clients that brings them back. We are focusing on more than just delivering outstanding service not once but every time.

MAXIDIVE was formed in 2016 as a descendant husbandry division of Beacon Offshore. Combined, we have already serviced a few thousand ships in Thailand and over eight hundred under the MAXIDIVE brand. We are proud to keep a 100% safety record and excellent customer feedback provided by every boat once the job is completed.

What do you think are your customer's present needs, and how is your services tailored to meet these?

As mentioned, we separated offshore and Inshore (shipping husbandry) to ensure MAXIDIVE can entirely focus on our service provided to ship owners, managers or ship charterers. Our Beacon Offshore colleagues are a fully IMCA-certified offshore company with a fleet of DP Diving Support vessels. MAXIDIVE is usually approached by owners of Diving Support Vessels mainly located at Sattahip Port or in South Thailand regions such as Songkhla or Ranong to provide underwater service. Because we are talking about thousands of miles to travel, we invested in a fleet of mobile diving systems available to be deployed anytime, anywhere, with the highest comfort for Divers, Clients, attending Class Surveyors and, of course, 100% safety.

How does MAXIDIVE differentiate itself from other companies in this industry?

When I joined this industry in Thailand around ten years ago, I noticed ship owners’ hesitation to conduct any shipping service in this region. It’s a gradual process, but we are happy to see the owner’s surprise and positive feedback complimenting MAXIDIVE service as top Class expected in more developed countries and often exceeding standards from other countries famous for shipping as Singapore or Western EU regions. There are not any secrets to this success. Primarily hard work, investing in people, their training and the latest equipment.

What do you think your customer's plans are for the future, and how does MAXIDIVE fit into these plans?

Like many other industries, ships are changing rapidly, especially once we talk about the environment, automatisation and safety guaranteed.
Maxidive and our partners invest heavily in developing and testing new hull cleaning methods using ROVs or semi-autonomous cleaning robots. We also completed an in-house commercial testing pool facility that we can use to train our divers and test and develop equipment and new underwater ship repair procedures.

Can you provide any specific success stories or case studies from your work with your customers?

As a diving service, we respond quickly, operating a 24/7 service, in many cases avoiding the need to Dry Dock a boat with a significant cost.

For example, Our dive team completed an advance heavily corroded rudder underwater repair where a large portion of rusty plating was removed and replaced (welded by our Class approved underwater welders). The rudder was subsequently de-woterized, all under the supervision and approval of DNV class. This type of repair is usually conducted by two or three of the most advanced underwater companies worldwide, one in the USA and two in the EU. Nobody expected that MAXIDIVE could achieve the same result in Thailand for a fraction of the quoted price.

What challenges has the customer faced in their industry, and how has MAXIDIVE helped to overcome them?

The most significant problem is that many of our customers are primarily interested in low prices rather than quality service and safety to the ship and divers. Unique in our South of Asia region, it opens an opportunity for low-budget diving companies primarily operate without proper equipment with an un-trained crew, mainly without any licensing or insurance. For us, it’s challenging to be cost-effective compared to those companies we call “Diving Fishermans”.

Are there any plans for the customer and MAXIDIVE to expand their partnership or offerings?

We had an expansion plan to replicate our success in countries such as Vietnam or the Philippines, but due to COVID – 19 pandemic put the entire process on hold.

We are currently re-evaluating the plan and searching those markets for the final decision to be made.