Pacific Marine Group · Marine Construction · Commercial Diving · Vessel Charter
A 26-vessel fleet moves from a failing paper trail to operation confidence
Pacific Marine Group (PMG) operates a varied fleet of tugs and barges across North Queensland. After struggling with DOC and SMS audits on paper, PMG moved its fleet to Sea-Flux as a single compliance, maintenance and crew platform, making audits easier.
QLD
Location
1986
Founded
26
Vessels
2024
Sea-Flux live
Summary
Established in 1986, Pacific Marine Group is a marine contractor specialising in marine construction, commercial diving, and vessel charter. Operating from a purpose-built waterfront facility in Townsville, the company manages a diverse 26-vessel fleet of tugs, workboats, and crane-equipped barges, supporting projects across Northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the wider Pacific.
Before adopting Sea-Flux, the business relied on a paper-based Safety Management System supported by Dropbox and faced challenges passing DOC and SMS audits due to gaps in its paper trail. Since implementing Sea-Flux, Pacific Marine Group has successfully centralised its compliance, maintenance, and vessel records. As a result, its annual ISM DOC audit was completed quickly and efficiently, with the surveyor highly impressed by the platform’s intuitive traffic light compliance system.
“The program itself is easy to use, and our crew are responding well to the change. Sea-Flux has allowed us to retain our Fleet SMS and forms while giving each vessel its own checks and maintenance tasks. As individual crew members sign in, it maintains accountability for tasks, checks and forms, keeping a closed loop within the SMS.”
Sam Hall
Marine Operations Manager
- Company Docs Register Module
- Feature: Forms / Checklist
The challenge
Failing audits on a paper trail nobody could keep up with
Pacific Marine Group has been a leader in marine contracting and commercial diving in North Queensland since 1986, running a fleet of 26 vessels, including tugs, barges of varying sizes and cargo barges fitted with cranes, out of its Townsville base.
Before Sea-Flux, the company ran a heavy paper-based Safety Management System backed by an outdated Dropbox folder structure. The system was not interactive between vessels, crew and the shore-based management team, and certificate tracking across the fleet was inconsistent. The shore-based team had to manage all the paperwork and keep on top of all the due dates, the expiries, typing paper to digital, scanning documents.
The consequences showed up where it mattered most: the business was failing DOC and SMS audits due to hard-to-track vessel certificates. With 26 vessels to account for, there was no single place where senior marine operators, the maintenance team and crew could see the same information.
The operational requirements were clear:
- Heavy paper-based Safety Management System backed by an outdated Dropbox structure
- No interactive link between vessels, crew and shore-based management
- Failing DOC and SMS audits due to a poor paper trail
- Inconsistent vessel certificate tracking across 26 vessels
- No single source of documentation for senior staff or crew to work from
PMG Tarka is a 26-metre tug with a 30-tonne bollard pull, supporting towing, anchor handling and dredge operations where reliable maintenance, certification and crew coordination are critical.
Why Sea-Flux
Discovered through an industry operator’s social media
Pacific Marine Group’s Operations Manager came across Sea-Flux while following TK Offshore on social media. After researching other models and programs on the market, Pacific Marine Group made the decision to move the whole fleet onto Sea-Flux.
Black Panther is a 23.8-metre utility vessel with a 15-tonne bollard pull, supporting towing, standby, mooring and offshore operations where maintenance, certification and crew readiness are critical.
Implementation
Senior masters came around fast
Pacific Marine Group found the fleet-wide implementation straightforward, with the Sea-Flux team available to assist throughout the transition. There were initially some concerns among senior staff about moving from paper-based processes to a digital platform. However, those concerns quickly eased once the system was in use. “The whole team loved it” said Sam Hall.
“We were well supported by Vaughan for this transition and onboarding. We are not left being passed from person to person in a call centre. The service we receive is of a personal nature and the best of a kind.”
Sam Hall
Marine Operations Manager
Senior masters reported that Sea-Flux saved time on board and made operational information immediately accessible. More broadly, staff and crew adopted the system without difficulty, demonstrating that a digital platform could be introduced across a large and varied fleet without creating additional complexity for the people using it.
PMG 183W, built in 2010, is a 54.86-metre flat-top cargo barge built for a range of offshore support and marine logistics operations.
“That colour coding system for the drills is fantastic. They can see that [crew] joined the ship, he’s been on board for three days and he hasn’t been drilled.”
Sam Hall
Marine Operations Manager
- Safety Module
- Feature: Drills
The results
Confidence all the way!
| Compliance & Audits | |
| Fast ISM DOC audit | The annual ISM DOC audit was completed very quickly. The ease of the platform let the team demonstrate the traffic light system directly to the surveyor, who was impressed by what he saw. |
| Fleet-wide risk visibility | Sea-Flux gives Pacific Marine Group what Sam describes as a bird's eye view over the entire fleet, which has materially reduced the company's exposure to compliance risk. |
| Operational Structure | |
| Consistent fleet standards without treating every vessel the same | Pacific Marine Group can manage its Fleet SMS and standard company forms centrally while assigning vessel-specific checks, maintenance schedules and operational tasks. This gives management consistency across the fleet without forcing a tug, utility vessel and crane barge to operate from an identical template. |
| Fleet SMS kept intact | Sea-Flux allowed the business to keep its existing Fleet SMS and forms while giving each vessel its own specific checks and maintenance tasks, tailored to that vessel rather than a generic template. |
| Closed-loop accountability | As individual crew sign in, the system maintains accountability for tasks, checks and forms, keeping a closed loop within the SMS rather than relying on informal follow-up. |
| Time Savings | |
| Faster information retrieval | The time staff spend finding information about crew and vessels has been greatly reduced. What used to mean digging through folders is now a few taps away. |
| One stop shop across roles | Senior marine operations staff, senior marine maintenance staff and crew members all work from the same platform, removing the friction of cross-referencing separate systems. |
| Crew Adoption | |
| Smooth migration | Despite initial hesitation, senior staff who were really used to paper, have picked up the digital system without difficulty, and feedback from senior masters has been strongly positive. |
“The Sea-Flux support team is accommodating and outstanding, with staff and crew taking to the system with ease thanks to the responsiveness of the team behind it.
Sea-Flux is a one-stop shop for our department. It services our senior marine operations staff, senior marine maintenance staff and our crew members. Every person is working off the same platform.”
Sam Hall
Marine Operations Manager
Conclusion
For Pacific Marine Group, Sea-Flux has become the operational checkpoint for compliance, maintenance and personnel information across its 26-vessel fleet.
Instead of relying on paper records, disconnected Dropbox folders and manual follow-up, marine operations staff, maintenance teams and crew now work from the same connected platform. Each vessel retains the checks and maintenance requirements specific to its operation, while management gains a clear fleet-wide view of outstanding tasks, certificates and compliance status.
The clearest evidence came during Pacific Marine Group’s annual ISM DOC audit. Information was readily available, the traffic light system clearly demonstrated the fleet’s compliance position, and the audit was completed quickly. What previously exposed weaknesses in the company’s paper trail now gives the team greater visibility, accountability and confidence.
Pacific Marine Group
Sector
Marine Construction · Commercial Diving · Vessel Charter
Vessel Type
Tugs, Crane-equipped Barges, Cargo barges
Assets
26-vessel fleet
Operator
Pacific Marine Group
Region
Townsville, Queensland, Australia
Operating since
1986
Sea-Flux live
2024
Employees
120+
Key outcomes
- Faster ISM DOC audits
- Fleet-wide compliance visibility
- One platform across 26 vessels
- Reduced time finding records
- Time savings on scheduled maintenance
Inspired by the Pacific Marine Group story?
“Sea-Flux is a one stop shop for our department. It services our senior marine operations staff, senior marine maintenance staff and our crew members. Every person is working off the same platform.”
Sam Hall
Marine Operations Manager
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Frequently asked questions
What problem did Pacific Marine Group have before using Sea-Flux?
The business ran a heavy paper-based Safety Management System through an outdated Dropbox structure with no interactive link between vessels, crew and shore-based management, and was failing DOC and SMS audits as a result.
How did Pacific Marine Group find Sea-Flux?
The Operations Manager came across Sea-Flux through following TK Offshore on social media, requested an online demo, and received a callback from Sea-Flux within ten minutes. A face-to-face meeting followed three days later.
How did Pacific Marine Group roll out Sea-Flux across 26 vessels?
Implementation was found to be easy, with some initial hesitation among senior staff migrating from paper to digital, but feedback from senior masters turned consistently positive once the system was in use.
What results has Pacific Marine Group seen?
The annual ISM DOC audit was completed quickly, with the surveyor visibly impressed by the platform’s traffic light system. The business now describes Sea-Flux as a gateway checker giving a bird’s eye view across the entire fleet.
Can Sea-Flux scale to a 26-vessel commercial fleet?
Yes. Pacific Marine Group runs tugs, barges and cargo barges with cranes across 26 vessels on a single Sea-Flux platform, with senior marine operations staff, maintenance staff and crew all working from the same system.
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