NEW BASE FOR THE PHILIPPINES TEAM

PHI began operations in the Philippines over nine years ago. HomeBase sat down with Brian Currie, Contract and Base Manager in the Philippines, to find out more about the new base in El Nido.

Over the past year, and despite the pandemic, the team has been preparing to move the operation to El Nido, approximately 280 kilometers north of the original hangar in Puerto Princesa.

The move means the team is now located much closer to the platform, reducing the flight time for Prime Energy passengers from 55 to 15 minutes, minimizing passenger risk exposure and operating costs. El Nido is a small town on the northern end of Palawan Island and is a tourist destination best known for island hopping, diving and surfing. It is a 1.5 hr flight from Manila, a five-hour drive from Puerto Princesa but more importantly, only a 15-minute flight to the platform which was the main impetus for our customer to shift operations to this new location.

The team officially commenced full-time operations from El Nido on 8 November 2022. After almost a decade of operating from myriad offices, sea containers and a shared hangar, the brand-new, purpose-built facility has been a welcome change for the team and is a significant improvement to our operations. Our new El Nido home is an 825 sqm hangar/office facility that has been purpose-built for the Malampaya project.

PHI has worked out of the El Nido Airport on and off since 2013 and recent upgrades to the airport have made permanent operations more feasible. The airport runway was upgraded some years ago and more recently, airport lighting and IFR procedures have been introduced. Brian says it’s great to finally be in the new base.

“The planned move has been on the books for over two years, but a combination of the pandemic and the unique operating requirements in El Nido led to multiple delays,” Brian said.

“While waiting for full regulatory approval, we began staging all passenger flights from RPEN, which allowed us to prepare the hangar for the final move. The move has also coincided with Shell’s divestment from the Malampaya project and the introduction of our new customer, Prime Energy Resource Development B.V.”

The team is enjoying the new location and recently took the opportunity to combine its “RU Ok Day” and Workplace Health Awareness activities and take a boat cruise through the El Nido islands, followed by dinner and swimming.

However, it’s not all palm trees and white sand beaches for the team.

“While our team is certainly lucky with the scenery they get to enjoy, El Nido is a small, remote town that often struggles with basic infrastructure provisions,” Brian said.

“Most recently, we had several days of 12-hour electricity ‘brownouts’ in the area due to a lack of fuel for the municipal power generating station. This provides additional challenges in continuing our safe and steady performance; however, this isn’t anything we can’t overcome, and it certainly does keep things interesting!”