News
Breaking news from blue o two: Fuel spillage in the Solomon Islands
We have received the following news from UK-based Tour Operator blue o two and its partners Worldwide Dive & Sail…
On February 4th 2019, the vessel “Solomon Trader” from Hong Kong ran aground in Rennell Province in the Solomon Islands during Cyclone Oma. The ship was carrying 800 tonnes of fuel, and it is feared that up to 100 tonnes has spilled into the sea and onto the surrounding reef. Given the potential for escalating damage, the Solomon Islands Government has requested assistance from Australia; teams of equipment, vessels and experts have now been sent.
Rennell Island is 250km south of Honiara, Guadalcanal. The proximity of the incident from our liveaboard operations therefore means that we do not anticipate any immediate impact on upcoming departures. However, the potential implications on both the marine environment and the indigenous people is significant. The eastern half of Rennell Island is on the world heritage list and is home to 1,200 Solomon Islanders who live by subsistence farming, hunting and fishing.
We will be monitoring the situation closely, and will offer any assistance that we can. Further updates will follow as we receive them.
For more information, please contact divingholidays@blueotwo.com or contact our travel team on 01752 480808.
North West-based Dive Centre, Palaemon Divers, has been shortlisted for Leisure and Tourism Start Up of the Year with Start Up Awards 2023.
Palaemon Divers is delighted to be named a finalist in the Awards which celebrate Start Up Businesses and what they have brought to the economy within three years of their launch.
Palaemon Divers was started by Leanne Clowes in the midst of COVID lockdowns. Leanne walked out of her well paid corporate sales job with no savings after a redundancy in a previous role and spending the majority of the year before COVID to follow the dream! After the redundancy and COVID, life struck just a little differently and the pull to become a full-time dive instructor became impossible to ignore!
So with that… notice was handed in, no savings, nothing physical to start being a full time dive instructor other than personal kit at the time – oh and the fact, Leanne was actually an Assistant Instructor at the time and hadn’t attended the instruction exam at that point as there had been none going on through COVID obviously!
However, the first Instructor Exam that was happening out of COVID was booked onto – no pressure at all with no full time job, no money as a back up, mortgage and bills to pay…
Leanne started freelancing as an instructor in the North West using various outdoor locations for training, and the business snowballed and quickly gained its first physical dive centre in January 2022 along with finding their own private in-water training facility at Princes Dock in Liverpool. Since then, 100s of new people from Liverpool and further afield have been introduced to the amazing sport of scuba, and experienced the abundant life under the surface of the dock itself.
In a time of no travel to outside your area or abroad, Palaemon Divers found something new and exciting to introduce the city of Liverpool to those who spend five days a week in the office looking down at the dock and not really being able to appreciate what the dock actually means to Liverpool!
It became apparent during 2022, that although Liverpool was fantastic, more growth was on the cards which came in the form of a second location, Palaemon Divers – Warrington. The second dive centre is an ex micro brewery in Warrington with a central location close to the M6, M62 and M56, spread over two floors which includes a classroom, workshop, compressor and a floor dedicated to retail.
The efforts in building this business have not gone unnoticed with the shortlist for Startup Awards, and also another shortlist which will be announced in the next month.
For more, email or visit:
In a video shot exclusively for Scubaverse.com, Jeff Goodman reviews the Quilted Polar Hat from leading drysuit manufacturer Otter Watersports.
For more information, visit www.otterwatersports.uk.
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