Sea-Flux · Customer Case Study · Purple Turtle
Two sites, nine boats, and a crew new to digital tools
Purple Turtle runs dive, fishing and transfer boats across two sites near Denarau, Fiji, an island base and a mainland base. Sea-Flux vessel management software brought both onto one system, rolled out in monthly stages to a crew where many were using a smartphone for the first time. A year on (as of 2026), Fiji’s Maritime Safety Authority holds Purple Turtle up as an example to other operators.
Fiji
Location
30+
Employees
9
Assets
2025
Sea-Flux live
Summary
Purple Turtle runs two sites out of Fiji: an island operation with five vessels covering diving and fishing, and a mainland operation with a dive boat and transfer boats. Five vessels in total, and 30+ staff. What started as a single-site business, easily tracked with paper logbooks and a spreadsheet, became difficult to manage as the company grew across multiple locations. Information that used to be a short walk down to the boat now took far longer to reach the office, and some tasks started to slip.
Sea-Flux has since brought safety checks, maintenance, digital logbooks and a full equipment register, from dive tanks to the workshop toolkit, into one system, used across both sites by staff with widely varying levels of comfort with a smartphone. The company introduced the system gradually, has since been recognised by Fiji’s Maritime Safety Authority for the standard of its digital record-keeping, and has grown its use of the platform through the transition from Sea-Flux V1 to V2.
The challenge
Paper logbooks and a spreadsheet, until the business outgrew them
Trev’s background is in engineering, and when Purple Turtle was smaller and running from a single site, a spreadsheet and paper logbooks on each boat were enough. If he needed information, he could walk down to the boat and check the logbook himself.
As the company grew to two sites and five vessels, that approach broke down. Getting information from captains and vessels back to the office started taking far longer, and things that needed attention were sometimes left unattended.
- Paper logbooks and a spreadsheet, workable only while the business ran from a single site
- Getting information from captains and vessels back to the office took a long time
- Maintenance and other tasks fell through the cracks without anyone noticing
- A large amount of equipment to track: five vessels and dive gear on the island, a dive boat and transfer boats on the mainland
- Staff with very limited prior experience with smartphones or similar technology
Getting two sites and a crew new to digital tools onboard:
Starting small, building month by month
Rolling out a digital system to an island crew was always going to be the harder part. In Trev’s words, some of the crew “barely use a normal mobile phone, let alone a smartphone.” Purple Turtle picked a few key staff to train first, then introduced the system in stages: a month on safety checks alone, then maintenance, then digital logbooks, adding a new piece each month rather than all at once.
“We picked a few key members that we knew would be able to deal with it, got them trained up quite quickly and got them used to it. In small steps.”
Trev
Owner / Operator, Purple Turtle
To remove the excuse of no phone or no data, Purple Turtle put a dedicated phone with its own data plan on every boat.
“There’s no excuses: ‘I haven’t got my phone with me today,’ or ‘I have no data.’ That was how we dealt with that one.”
Trev
Owner / Operator, Purple Turtle
A year on, every staff member has a smartphone, and Trev says some of the crew have taken up using one specifically because of Sea-Flux.
The results
What changed, and what it means
| Safety & Accountability | |
| Daily checks that get done, not just listed | Staff complete daily safety checks and document them in a system anyone in the company can check, rather than working from a list that may or may not get actioned. |
| Equipment confirmed before each trip | Every vessel now has its safety equipment checked and confirmed before it goes out. |
| Maintenance | |
| Fewer breakdowns |
Tracking engine hours for servicing, with a colour-coded system flagging what's overdue, means the team gets ahead of maintenance instead of reacting to it.
“The staff are looking after things much better, knowing that there's lists to follow ... it's great for being able to get on top of things before they get out of control.”
- Trev, Owner/Operator, Purple Turtle |
| Digital Logbooks | |
| Remote visibility across two sites | Trev can check fuel usage or trip length for billing or rescheduling from the office, from another boat, or wherever he is, without waiting on a phone call from a captain. |
| A Full Equipment Register | |
| Everything from a broken kettle to a vehicle |
Beyond the boats, Purple Turtle tracks around 100 dive tanks, 40 BCDs and 40 sets of regulators, all needing annual servicing, alongside tools, vehicles, trailers and every certificate and piece of paperwork with an expiry date.
“It may be a socket set, a set of screwdrivers, or a vehicle; it's all in there, and it works.”
- Trev, Owner/Operator, Purple Turtle |
Distributed leadership
From Trev checking every boat daily to managers and captains owning it: for six to nine months, Trev personally checked every boat each day and screenshotted outstanding items to send to managers and captains. That responsibility now sits with his operations managers, and some captains proactively flag jobs on their own days off.
“Having that remote accessibility is critical to some of these guys that are really keen on keeping on top of things and having that ownership.”
Trev
Owner / Operator, Purple Turtle
Shareholders and contractors, too: silent shareholders hold active accounts and can check in on the business at any time, and Purple Turtle has added outsourced contractors, such as its outboard service technicians, as restricted users who log their own work directly into the system.
Regulator recognition
From early scepticism to being held up as an example
Fiji’s Maritime Safety Authority (MSAF) was initially unconvinced, while the system was still bedding in. A year on, at the time of the interview, MSAF can ask any captain to show any document and get an immediate answer, and the authority is now encouraging Purple Turtle to demonstrate its digital record-keeping to other operators, while pushing toward a digital clearance system of its own.
“Now, a year on, they love it … they’re really encouraging us to show other people what we’re doing.”
Trev
Owner / Operator, Purple Turtle
Growing with the platform
A smooth move from V1 to V2
Purple Turtle has been through the transition from Sea-Flux V1, used at a basic level while the company was smaller, to V2, opening up more of the platform to staff as the business has grown. Trev describes the support behind that move as consistently responsive, including over weekends, with very few bugs during the transition.
“The new version is a lot smoother, a lot cleaner. The colour coding on the outstanding items is just amazing… with new features coming online every so often, it’s quite a bit of fun to play with.”
Trev
Owner / Operator, Purple Turtle
The one feature Trev would like to see next is the ability to attach a photo directly to a job update, rather than typing a description.
Advice for operators on the fence
Weigh the cost against what one bad breakdown would cost you
Trev’s advice to operators considering the move to a digital system is to weigh the cost against what’s already been lost to poor record-keeping.
“Look at what you’ve lost in the last year … if I save one engine a year, I’m saving a lot more than I’ve ever spent on Sea-Flux.”
Trev
Owner / Operator, Purple Turtle
His other advice is to start small: pick a few boats, or a single feature such as safety checks, and build up from there rather than rolling everything out to a whole crew at once. He also recommends that someone, in any role, be made accountable for checking in on outstanding items daily and following up directly with the people who need to complete them.
Conclusion
Purple Turtle has taken a company that once ran on a spreadsheet and paper logbooks at a single site, and built it out to cover nine vessels, 32 staff and two remote locations: safety checks, maintenance, digital logbooks and a complete equipment register, on a single system.
The rollout was staged deliberately for a crew with little prior smartphone experience, and it has paid off. Fiji’s Maritime Safety Authority now points to Purple Turtle as an example for other operators, managers and captains have taken on responsibility that once sat entirely with the owner, and the business has grown its use of the platform through the move from V1 to V2.
Purple Turtle Fiji
Sector
Tourism
Vessel Type
Dive boats, fishing boats & transfer boats
Region
Denarau, Fiji
Operator
Purple Turtle Fiji
Sea-Flux live
2025
Assets
9
Employees
30+
Key outcomes
- Daily safety checks completed, documented and visible fleet-wide
- Colour-coded maintenance tracking is cutting down on breakdowns
- Digital logbooks give remote visibility across two sites
- One register for boats, dive gear, tools, vehicles and trailers
- Managers and captains taking ownership without daily chasing
- Recognised by Fiji's Maritime Safety Authority (MSAF)
Inspired by the Purple Turtle Fiji story?
“The staff are looking after things much better, knowing that there’s lists to follow … it’s great for being able to get on top of things before they get out of control.”
Trev,
Owner/Operator, Purple Turtle Fiji
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Frequently asked questions
What is Sea-Flux?
Sea-Flux is vessel management software used by marine operators to run safety checks, maintenance schedules, digital logbooks and equipment registers from one system, replacing paper logbooks and spreadsheets.
What problem did Purple Turtle have before using Sea-Flux?
Purple Turtle ran on paper logbooks and a spreadsheet, workable while it operated from a single site. As the business grew to two sites and nine vessels, getting information from captains and boats back to the office took far longer, and tasks were sometimes left unattended.
How did Purple Turtle get staff with very limited prior experience with technology onto a digital system?
Purple Turtle trained a few key staff first, then rolled Sea-Flux out in monthly stages, starting with safety checks before adding maintenance and digital logbooks. It also put a dedicated phone with its own data plan on every boat so connectivity was never an excuse.
What results has Purple Turtle seen with Sea-Flux?
Daily safety checks are completed and documented fleet-wide, engine hours and servicing are tracked with colour-coded alerts that have reduced breakdowns, and digital logbooks give remote visibility into fuel use and trip times across both of Purple Turtle’s sites.
How has Fiji's Maritime Safety Authority responded to Purple Turtle's digital record-keeping?
Fiji’s Maritime Safety Authority (MSAF) was initially sceptical, but a year on it can ask any Purple Turtle captain to produce any document on demand, and it now encourages Purple Turtle to show other operators its approach.
What advice does Purple Turtle have for operators considering vessel management software?
Weigh the software’s cost against what a single preventable breakdown would cost the business, start small with a few boats or one feature such as safety checks, and make one person accountable for following up on outstanding items daily.
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