Guyanese consortium augments stake in oil and gas sector with arrival of M.V Galileo Galilei
VEHSI, Guyana’s largest private sector investment in the oil and gas sectors, are boosting their stake in the local oil sector with the procurement of the M.V Galileo Galilei, a state of the art dredge to construct new terminal.
Vreed-en-Hoop Shore Base Incorporated (VEHSI) is a partnership between the 100% Guyanese-owned NRG Holdings Incorporated and Luxembourg-based, Jan De Nul—an engineering and construction firm which specialises in marine and offshore services, and has a minority stake in the project.
VEHSI has recently procured the M.V Galileo Galilei; the largest dredger to ever arrive in the Demerara River, and is one of the largest trailing suction hopper dredges in Guyanese waters.
It has worked on projects such as the recent beach expansion project in Brazil and other port projects. A special feature of this vessel is that it has two separated hoppers on board. This allows the dredged material to be spread evenly over both hoppers, thus optimally controlling the load and the draught.
This trailing suction hopper dredger is owned and operated by the Jan De Nul Group.
The vessel’s arrival marks the beginning of the sandkey reclamation phase of the project.
During this phase the dredger will clear the existing area and begin the process of adding reclaimed material for the creation of an artificial island on which a new terminal will be constructed.
This project will, in the first phase, add more than 44 acres to Guyana’s coastline.
This will, in turn, boost employment for Guyanese as one of the consortium’s core objectives is to provide employment to residents of Region Three, where the company is developing a shore base facility.
According to the project directors, the support and encouragement given by the Government of Guyana has been reassuring and augurs well for additional investment and the future of Guyana. The project is expected to become operational in 2023.
