CAPTAIN Marcelo Santini has joined Pacific Towing to assist the company in taking advantage of international project opportunities, further increase its salvage capabilities and add to the company’s oil and gas expertise.
PNG-based PacTow provides services in towage, moorage, salvage, commercial diving, life rafts and hull cleaning in Melanesia.
Captain Santini is a senior master and salvage master and has 35+ years maritime experience (river and open ocean). He has operated a wide variety of vessel types: ocean going tugs, harbour tugs, push tugboats and 32 barges convoy, AHTSs, PSVs, tankers, containerships, dredges, buoy tenders, sand vessels, passenger, mix passenger, ro-ro and bulk carriers.
Captain Santini has spent the last 25 years involved in towage and salvage work throughout South America.
“He’s worked on salvage projects the scale and likes of which have not been seen in Melanesia,” PacTow said in a statement. These include a multi-vessel river collision resulting in a fire, loss of life and the unloading of 3,000,000 litres of gasoline, as well as requiring towage through water less than one metre deep.
“Importantly, Captain Santini increases PacTow’s oil and gas expertise having not only crewed on LPG vessels but also having towed them.”
Originally from Argentina, Captain Santini has relocated to PNG with his wife and two young children. He speaks four languages: his native Spanish as well as English, Italian and Portuguese.
