Our team has a wide range of skills, from body recoveries to marine salvage and coral surveys. Poni Marine is available 24/7, all year round, working in all types of weather and all kinds of underwater conditions. Below you’ll find a list of selected projects to highlight our wide range of engineering, subsea & public safety projects for the maritime, construction, and media industry. Please inquire to see a full list of our projects.
Success with Poni Marine
Your provider in Brunei for maritime, subsea and commercial diving solutions.
Subsea & commercial diving projects such as vessel propeller entanglement, dam inspections, mooring block deployments are just a few of the projects you will find below. Other highlighted projects related to public safety diving include body recoveries and search & recovery for lost equipment and coral surveys & underwater sample collection for scientific expeditions by our scientific diving outfit are also included below.
Subsea - Inspection, Vessels, Marine Construction, Public Safety
The Poni Marine Dive Team conducted a body recovery operation for a sunken boat where 12 lives were lost in Malaysian waters 3 nautical miles from the Malaysia - Brunei water border. Two bodies were found and recovered successfully from 50m depths and handed over to the Malaysian Maritime Unit.
Our divers completed a UW survey on the navigation light tower at the Muara Channel for repair job planning for Yeng Tong Construction Sdn Bhd.
The Poni Marine Engineering & Dive Teams were contracted to launch HDPE pipes out to sea at the Tutong area to join with the existing water intake pipeline via a butt fusion jointing process to extend the existing water intake pipeline another 100m out to sea for a cleaner water intake. Works included search & recovery for the concealed existing pipeline, small-scale dredging, cutting, pipeline blockage removal, and lifting. New HDPE pipes were launched out to sea from the beach due to the lack of other feasible alternatives for jointing with assistance from a hired self-propelled work barge. Bad year-end weather made for challenging work conditions but the jointing process was successful with the HDPE pipes handed over to another contractor.
Poni won the project tender bid to build and deploy two 2-ton cement mooring blocks with a submerged buoy for the Tourism Department, Ministry of Primary Resources & Tourism to reduce incidents of anchoring on coral reefs by dive boats at Pelong Rock protecting the reefs. To transport and deploy the cement blocks, our engineering team built its own work barge 40 feet x 11 feet, Poni Alpha 1, with a deployment hatch in the center for the cement block and a A-frame hoist overhead the hatch. The two 2-ton cement blocks were fabricated to specifications with a submerged buoy via heavy chain and a pickup buoy visible on the water surface for dive boats to tie onto. The cement blocks were deployed successfully at Pelong East (5m) and Pelong South (12m) with our barge, Poni Alpha 1, following permits from the Marine Department across 2 days.
Poni Marine Dive Team led a search & recovery operations for lost equipment in the jungle areas of the Tutong River with support from the British Forces Brunei in unison with the Brunei Navy Dive Team for 5 days. Strong currents, cold waters, blackwater zero visibility, muddy bottoms, crocodiles, numerous underwater obstructions with logs & tree branches made for difficult diving conditions.
Poni Marine divers completed an inspection dive on the propeller and azimuth thrusters on the OOC Leopard, for Offshore Carriers GmbH & Co. KG, Germany, and checked the blade flanges, steering shaft, propeller hub shaft, and seal of cap.
Our divers were called out to search for a missing ADCP in deepwater 42m further beyond the Outer Anchorage for Maju Geohydro Sdn Bhd. Due to its depth, our divers conducted the search on JJ-CCR rebreathers on mixed gases for an extended bottom time. A magnetic survey was done to identify a series of locations to start the search. After 2 days of searching, the missing ADCP was found and recovered successfully and deployed at a later date.
The Poni Marine Dive Team conducted surveys at 9 points for Dredging International, DEME, Singapore, to investigate obstructions that were found in an earlier hydrographic survey of the area for the channel deepening project. Strong currents and zero visibility required our divers to use circular search patterns. Big logs, rocks, and a sunken crane were found.
Divers from Poni Marine completed a survey & assessment dive at one of the Mengkubau Reservoir water intake towers for Elmech Engineering to identify plugging methods.
Poni Marine surveyed the sunken Dolphin88 vessel for Marine Port Authority Brunei Darussalam (MPABD); a post-accident vessel salvage survey, a UW hazards & pollution survey, & a hydrographic survey with bathymetry & seabeds features charts to determine safe clearance to ensure safe navigation using Multibeam Echo sounder System & Side Scan Sonar.
Poni Marine divers completed a propeller & thruster inspection and leak assessment for Posh Semco, Singapore, for their vessel, Posh Concorde, at Muara Outer Anchorage.
Poni Marine Dive Team spent 5 days investigating magnetic and coral anomalies for Maju Geohydro Sdn Bhd at proposed BPMC (Berakas Power Management Company) submarine power cable routes along the Berakas coastal area and at the Muara-PMB channel. Earlier hydrographic & UW magnetic surveys had been done and discovered these anomalies.
Our divers were required for underwater ground truthing surveys with a UW metal detector to investigate any potential hazards for the next phase of the project. Various objects like discarded tyres, small trailers, marine debris, small boat engine, mooring blocks, and an old forgotten artificial reef building program with cement triangular structures were discovered.
Our divers were called out to survey the Tasek Lama intake tower for Seri Ghanimi Contractor Sdn Bhd to identify the type of penstock installed for parts replacement and repair of its valve & spindle in zero visibility conditions.
Subsea - Scientific Diving
Poni Marine was contracted for a sand coring job for Ocean Quarry & Construction Sdn Bhd at the Tutong coastal area using vibracoring to collect sand samples.
The Poni Marine Dive Team was contracted to support the Brunei Natural History Department with boat & equipment hire and support on coral survey techniques for documentation of Abana Reef.
To support Dr Antonino’s research at the University of Brunei Darussalam on sand fossils at our seabeds, our divers were commissioned to collect sand samples at 3 points, 40m, 50m, and 60m depths with a coring tube and collection bags. Our divers successfully conducted the sand sample collection dive on JJ-CCR rebreathers.
Maritime Projects
Poni Marine Engineering Team was commissioned to design & fabricate a special gangway platform for an arriving Navy Vessel as its deck height was not suitable for Muara Port on short notice. A container was modified and used efficiently on a short turnaround time of 5 days.
The Poni Marine Boat Team regularly offers ongoing support services to arriving foreign Navy Vessels at Muara Port to deploy oil boom and marker buoys around the vessel and other supporting services like boat charters or standby boats.
Our boats have been chartered for oil spill training exercises at the Muara coastal areas by Hengyi Industries for their HSE protocols and are trained for oil boom setup and mobilization in response to an oil spill emergency.
Poni was awarded the boat transportation contract for Hengyi Industries Sdn Bhd to shuttle the 619 trainees of the Capacity Building Center (PPK) from the Serasa Ferry Terminal to the PMB Island for their apprenticeship at the Hengyi Petrochemical Plant before the completion of the PMB Bridge. Up to 8 of our speed boats were used daily with backup & safety boats on standby for this large operation for 5 months successfully and safely.
Poni led a second exploratory expedition to the Louisa Reef & the Royal Charlotte Reef in the Spratly Islands, 120 nautical miles offshore with a chartered yacht, this time with 7 onboard. Schools of pilot whales and dolphins were encountered on the way out. Pelagics like white-tip & black-tip sharks, whale sharks, manta rays and turtles were found at Royal Charlotte Reef
After winning a project tender bid to build and deploy two 2-ton cement mooring blocks for the Ministry of Primary Resources & Tourism our engineering team designed and built our own work barge 40 feet x 11 feet, Poni Alpha 1, with a deployment hatch in the center for the cement block and a A-frame hoist overhead the hatch.
The Poni Boat Team was contracted to manage, park, launch, maintain, and handle the University of Brunei Darussalam’s new flagship research catamaran boat, the BIO-FOS II across 1 year. Services included boat modification & repairs and engine & trailer repairs.
Poni led a first exploratory expedition to Louisa Reef, Spratly Islands, in recent decades, 120 nautical miles offshore. A trimaran sailing yacht was chartered with 9 onboard for a 5 days trip with one of our dive boats in tow. Low winds made for slow sailing out. On arrival, 100m drop-offs with 100m visibility, and teeming marine life awaited. Dr David Lane from the University of Brunei Darussalam was onboard and discovered a new starfish species, Neoferdina sp, at 38m depth, on this expedition. There are only 8 types of Neoferdina species on the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) and this is the 9th addition to the genus of the sea star. Another rare species, the red-lined sea cucumber, Thelenota Rubrolineata was also discovered here, an uncommon and surprising find at Louisa Reef. A 19th century anchor from a Spanish galleon was also discovered on this trip.
Media Projects
Our Media Team was commissioned to provide media project support for the filming of an episode from a regional TV MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) Show, One Warrior Series, providing car drivers, tour guides, boat support, and UW video and photo footage for their TV production team.
Poni organized the underwater cleanup at Jerudong Beach in conjunction with the Brunei Shell Joint Ventures (BSJV) International Coastal Cleanup, working together with Brunei Gas Carriers (BGC) at selected site, Jerudong Beach. Our Media Team covered the event with land and air footage by UAV drones with an edited video to promote marine conservation and motivate the public to join local conservation efforts.
Poni Marine hosted the film crew from CNN HK and provided ground logistics, transportation by land & sea, assisting with production with location selection, interviews with local businesses and government for a complete story on one of our projects, “Sketching the Wrecks of Brunei” and provided UW photos and video footage shown on CNN media. It was CNN’s first time to Brunei with our Media Team instrumental in assisting with visas & permits for media passes resulting in a positive portrayal of Brunei as a tourism destination on international news.
Our Media Team, Dive Team & Events Team organized the World Ocean Day for the Fisheries Department with Guest of Honor, YB Pehin Yahya Hj Bakar diving together with renowned coral scientists to promote Poni’s Coral Propagation Program to the schools and youths of Brunei. Services included event management, dive management, dive guiding, marketing, logistical planning, media coverage above and underwater for Radio Televisyen Brunei (RTB) and social media.
Project Support, Marine Supply & Training
Poni was awarded the contract to complete hydrostatic tests and visual inspections on tanks for the Brunei Marine Police Department. Our dive gear technicians are certified Association of Scuba Service Engineers & Technicians (ASSET) for steel, aluminum, composite tank inspections & hydro, & compressor maintenance with Mares & Scubapro certifications. A basic gear maintenance and servicing workshop was hosted by our technicians for the Brunei Marine Police Diving Unit gear users.
After Poni received its COMMAC (Commercial Ministry of Defense Approved Center) status from the Ministry of Defense UK after passing its rigorous audits, our Dive Team started training military personnel from the British Forces Brunei on a regular basis PADI and BSAC courses.
Poni Marine is an authorized dealer for Sofnolime Sorb products. Sofnolime Sorb 797 is used to remove carbon-dioxide from rebreathers and is also used by our rebreather divers. Poni supplied sorb to the Brunei Special Forces, Ministry of Defense through Royal Brunei Technical Services (RBTS) for the use of their military oxygen rebreathers.
Poni was commissioned to train 12 divers from the Tourism Department, Ministry of Primary Resources & Tourism, for recreational diving, completing their PADI Open Water, and later, the PADI Advanced Open Water, so the department can better understand our rich marine resources for tourism. Everyone completed the training successfully and safely and they continue to dive actively.
Poni was awarded the contract to train and develop divers from the Brunei Maritime Museum and the Brunei Natural History Department, Ministry of Culture Youth & Sports, to form an advanced diving unit with archaeological diving capabilities with its own assets. Government officers were selected to join participating in PADI Open Water, PADI Advanced Open Water, and later PADI Rescue Diver courses.
