Australia's oldest and largest marine pilotage company Australian Reef Pilots (ARP) has been bought by a consortium of its employees.
ARP, which services all types of shipping through the Great Barrier Reef, has been sold by the private Brisbane-based company Torres Industries to a group of ARP executives and reef pilots.ARP chief executive Simon Meyjes has led the buyout and said it would be business as usual during the transition.
As a vertically integrated business, ARP owns a range of infrastructure and intellectual property. It employs 38 pilots at four working pilot stations, has 41 managerial and support staff, and owns or operates six pilot boats and five helicopters.
ARP has been providing pilotage services on the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait for 126 years.
