Resolve Salvage & Fire (Cape Town)

Resolve Marine Group began in 1980 as a one-tug operation after Joe Farrell, Jr. purchased his first tug, THE RESOLVE. Throughout the next 10 years, the company oversaw salvage jobs in the Caribbean, working on various small freighters and island vessels. Following the 1989 EXXON VALDEZ oil spill in Alaska, the U.S. Coast Guard established regulations for OPA-90 and, at the time, Farrell, realized he needed to offer services that met those regulations if he wanted to remain in business.

In order to comply with OPA-90 rules, Resolve needed the expertise and capabilities to fight tank vessel fires – in short, it needed a firefighting team and, as it turned out, the only way to establish one was to build a training facility. RESOLVE soon became the only salvage company with an in-house firefighting team of experts, who also served as professional instructors.

While Farrell realized the OPA-90 model had worldwide ramifications, he first dedicated his resources to the North American market. RESOLVE was the only SMFF provider at the time with a focus on offering the best services in the United States. Farrell’s dedication to refine the OPA-90 emergency response model domestically paid off as Resolve now maintains a strong network of 23 depots nationwide, stocked with company-owned equipment around the clock.

Once Resolve established its U.S. capabilities, Farrell applied the OPA-90 emergency response model worldwide. The company now has offices and response bases in the United Kingdom, Gibraltar, Singapore, India, China, and South Africa.