Business stays afloat despite second wave
FOR yacht repairs and services, Revmarine Electrical Pte Ltd is the go to one stop shop for all marine services.
The business, which is based at Port Denarau Marina and at Vuda Marina, faced a downturn in business during the COVID-19 second wave.
Co-owner Anjani Rekha said the business, which started its operations in 2016, was going pretty well until COVID-19 struck.
“During 2018 and mid-2019 when there was no COVID-19, we were really busy and from a business point of view, we were at a very good position,” she said.
Ms Rekha said straight after the second wave, nothing was allowed into the country and it severely affected the Blue Lane initiative.
“We had very few yachts in the marina at that time and our business went down by 70 per cent following the second wave.”
She said seven employees worked for the company and they had managed to keep all of their staff.
“Our services range from general marine services such as yacht maintenance and repairs, all types of electrical works on the yachts, yacht paintings, outboard engine works, among others.”
Ms Rekha said April to November were the yachting season in Fiji which goes along with non-cyclone season.
“The second wave hit us hard because it was just at the beginning of our business season and during this phase we just did enough business to pay for our employees and to keep us rolling.
“Before the yatching industry in Fiji was not so popular but from 2017 to 2019, it gained a lot of momentum especially with the America’s Cup that was supposed to be held in Fiji but was shifted to New Zealand due to COVID-19 which was a very big loss for us.”
Ms Rekha said after April this year, they were operating under strict COVID-19 regulations with a COVID-19 pass issued by the Ministry of Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport.