Our History
In 1997, six underwater operations experts joined resources to form Phoenix Marine, Inc., an underwater services company to perform waterborne repairs on U.S. Navy ships. That goal was realized when the U.S. Navy awarded Phoenix a five-year Diving and Diving Related Services contract. We maintain that contract today, supporting worldwide operations from our Chesapeake, VA; San Diego, CA; and Aiea, HI offices.
Here’s a look at some photos from the old days. The lack of furniture in new offices didn’t stop our leadership team from building this company into what it is today.
2000
By 2000, Phoenix had won several internationally competed contracts to search for and recover aircraft and rocket components from water depths to 3,000 msw, utilizing a 6,000 msw Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) designed and built at our Largo, MD facility. The success of those missions resulted in the additional award of a five-year contract to perform search and recovery services for the U.S. Navy.
2001
In 2001, Phoenix led the assembly of a group of experienced and specialized submarine rescue related companies (Team Phoenix) to assist the U.S. Navy in integrating and certifying its new Submarine Rescue Diving and Recompression System (SRDRS). As the U.S. Navy’s submarine rescue support contractor, Team Phoenix has deployed the SRDRS from its home port in San Diego, CA in support of international submarine rescue exercises, and an actual submarine casualty.
2003
Phoenix expanded into the commercial oil and gas market for the Gulf of Mexico in 2003, operating from our base in Bayou Vista, LA and supported by our Houston, TX office. Our underwater services in the oil patch started with surface air and mixed gas diving, and we subsequently added Atmospheric Diving Systems (ADS) and ROV intervention, allowing us to perform inspection, repair, maintenance, decommissioning, and construction operations from the surface down to 6,000 msw.
2007
In 2007, Phoenix adopted an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and our name changed to Phoenix International Holdings, Inc.
2012
2012 marked another milestone in our underwater robotic capabilities when Phoenix purchased a 4,500 msw Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) christened “Artemis” (goddess of the hunt) to offer our clients deep water survey and inspections at greater efficiency and reduced cost. The acquisition of this asset was a natural progression in company growth that enabled us to offer autonomous towed pinger-locator, side-scan sonar, multi-beam sonar, sub-bottom profiling, and underwater digital imagery services.
2016
Phoenix opened our Fort Lauderdale, FL facility focused on providing underwater inspection, maintenance, and repair services for commercial vessels in 2016.
2019
In 2019, the Commonwealth of Australia Department of Defence awarded Phoenix International (Australia) Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Phoenix International Holdings, Inc., a contract for Submarine Rescue Services (SRS) to include the acquisition and support of a Submarine Escape, Rescue, and Abandonment System (SERAS).
We also opened our Stennis Space Center, MS facility for the provision of a broad range of AUV, ROV, and engineering services to the U.S. Navy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and other regional maritime organizations.