Dutch engineering firm Fugro, which has partnered with Guyanese firm Ground Structures Engineering Consultants Inc., has purchased a new vessel which they will use to conduct hydrographic surveys along Guyana’s coast.
Marine Operations Manager for Fugro Guyana, Doug Chapman, gave an update on the vessel’s acquisition at a reception at the company’s headquarters at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, Guyana on May 24, 2019.
“We bought the vessel a couple of weeks ago… it is 30 feet long and nine feet wide…draught of two feet, and we will use it for hydrographic surveys,” said Chapman.
He said that the vessel is equipped with one main engine of 350 horsepower and 60 horsepower to return the boat to the shore if the larger engine fails. The ship is equipped with radar and other necessary equipment for carrying out surveys. “We will also do the harbours and along the coast as well and then we will compare the results of our surveys with the hydrographic surveys that were done by the UK…to show the difference between the time they did theirs and when we do ours because there will be changes to the rivers flowing down to the ocean,” he said.
Chapman said that the data garnered from the surveys will be processed in Guyana with Guyanese persons being trained in this regard. “Our philosophy has always been in Guyana the transfer of knowledge,” he said. Further, Chapman said that Fugro hopes to establish a local hydrographic office in Guyana as the company continues to emphasise skills transfer.
Guyanese Charles Ceres from Ground Structures Engineering Consultants Inc. said that Fugro’s acquisition of the vessels means that there will now be available timely data on the depth of the waterways in Port Georgetown and any other port in Guyana. He said that because of the lack of data in the vessels working offshore Guyana have to be serviced out of Trinidad in terms of bunkering, crew changes and supplies.
Ceres said that there is no real documentation on the coastal zone and the surveys that this vessel will carry out will help to provide the missing information on which decisions can be made. “It will also give us real time data about the development of our coastal structures and for planning going forward,” he said.
Ground Structures Engineering Consultants Inc. (GSEC) entered a major agreement with Fugro in 2017 for the provision of a range of services covering the life cycle of upcoming projects.
In the two years prior to the signing of the agreement, Fugro had been complemented by GSEC’s capabilities in acquisitions and interpretation of land and marine based geo-intelligence.
