Director of the Vreed-en-Hoop Shore Base Inc. (VEHSI), Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer said the company is in talks with potential new clients to expand the acreage of the new artificial island in the Demerara River.
“[We’ve] got clients who are interested in bunkering, clients who are interested in commercial shipping,” Boyer said during a recent visit to the island by President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali.
The current 44-acre project, part of reclaimed land, is set aside for a shore base facility for use by ExxonMobil Guyana to support its Stabroek Block operations. The facility is on track to become operationalised by December 2023 and will facilitate docking, offloading and loading of ships and other vessels. An additional phase will become operational in 2024.
NRG Holdings recently completed the dredging phase of its project with the draft of the Demerara channel increased to nine metres. It also widened the channel by more than 60% and lengthened the channel by five miles in the Northwest direction.
President Ali said in remarks to the workers on the island: “You are working on the first offshore man-made island. That is something historic, that is something to be proud of. That is an experience and opportunity that I know many people would love to get. I am happy that all of you are part of this transformation and historic moment in our country.”
Ali took special interest in the employment creation aspect of the project. Boyer said that the shorebase maintenance by VEHSI will likely employ 25-50 persons, and that Exxon will likely employ 50-100 depending on the scale of activities, in the first phase alone.
VEHSI is a partnership between the 100% Guyanese-owned NRG Holdings and the Belgian Jan De Nul. Exxon contracted VEHSI to primarily support its Yellowtail project slated for first oil in 2025.
