Of all the ports on the great lakes of North America, the Thunder Bay port is one of the busiest, where our very own commercial dive company is located. The Mat Marine contracting is the only commercial dive and contracting company located in the Northwestern Ontario region.
Founded back in 1988, the Mat Marine company specializes in underwater civil contract work of all scopes. They offer a range of commercial diving, inspection, repair, and maintenance services to clients, working closely with the OPG, C.P. Rail, M.T.O., First Nations, shipping companies, among many others.
The commercial dive company evolved from a small contracting company into the ‘Big Lake Dive and Marine’ commercial diving company in January 2021, after it was purchased along with three other small contracting companies on their way. Currently the Big Lake Dive and Marine is the only commercial dive company operating between Sault St. Marie and Thunder Bay.
As a fully outfitted operation that uses state of the art equipment and highly experienced personnel consisting of a four-man team, the company aims to achieve a consistent performance record for excellence. Their reputation for being reliable and delivering quality services led to reclassifying them as essential work when the businesses took a hit during the pandemic.
Judson Beals, the owner, and operator of the business believes that as traffic increases in one of the largest harbors in the great lakes, inspections are crucial. The company under the ownership of Beals, was recently responsible for retrieving equipment sunk in Lake Superior that weighed over 7500 pounds.
“We are trying to grow and be more available to provide more services for this industry; especially hire and employ more operators. Our goal is to make the company a fulltime employment for divers and employees as opposed to a contract basis employment,” says Judson Beals.
“We are also trying to have more of a digital footprint for more visibility as we roll out our website and social media,” adds Christina Beals, the administrator and wife of the owner of the Big Lake Dive and Marine company.
