When tasked with removal and full replacement of the worn-out mooring system at Wake Island, PCCI delivered a complete turnkey solution — from procurement through installation, load testing, and demobilization — across thousands of miles of ocean under COVID’s extraordinary logistical constraints.

The US Air Force base at Wake Island requires jet fuel delivered periodically by ship, which requires an open-ocean mooring. The base’s extreme remoteness meant that every piece of equipment, every spare part, and every contingency had to be anticipated and staged before departure. With the added complexity of the COVID-19 pandemic restricting supply chains and personnel movement, PCCI’s mobilization planning was critical to mission success.

PCCI and our teammates Healy Tibbitts, Sea Engineering and American Marine mobilized from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, procuring and shipping all mooring system components for their two-week tow to Wake Island. Every detail — equipment, instrumentation, ocean towing, personnel— was meticulously planned so we could execute on schedule and without adverse impact to one of the Pacific’s most isolated and pristine marine environments.

PCCI supplied four complete sets of replacement moorings plus components, incorporating a new jumbo-sized chain capture device with enhanced safety features. The full scope of removal and replacement included:

• Removal and disposal of two existing buoys, chain, 5-ton concrete sinkers, and 20-ton concrete anchors
• Four new tension bar foam buoys with navigation lights and mooring hooks
• Four lengths of 250-ft-long continuous large size mooring chain(the heaviest weight that is truckable)
• Four large swivel shackles and 16 steel sinkers
• Four 10-tonne Vryhof Stevshark Rex drag embedment anchors

Our team of divers, deckhands, riggers, welders and survey crew worked together to safely execute the project.  Throughout installation, our team protected Wake Island’s unspoiled reef and marine ecosystem.

PCCI then engineered and executed a horizontal pull test to 100,000 lbf on each of the newly installed mooring legs — proving the load capacity the system, and then activating each buoy’s mooring light.

Our crew then prepared the crane barge for its safe return transit to Pearl Harbor where all removed materials were responsibly disposed — leaving Wake Island’s mooring system fully renewed and mission-ready.