On March 31, eight Guyanese engineers officially completed SBM Offshore Guyana’s Graduate Engineers’ Programme. The programme provided international training for the young Guyanese, who graduated from the University of Guyana, to support the Prosperity Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, the third vessel SBM Offshore is delivering to Guyana. To commemorate the occasion, a graduation ceremony was held at the Guyana Marriott Hotel for the engineers, who formed the first cohort of the programme.
Seven of the Graduates – Malik Lewis, Andy Sattan, Tanisha Selby, Paula Ceres, Raymond Luckhoo, Kishaun Lall and Daniel Troyer – received training in the Netherlands and then Singapore for six months each, where they gained hands-on training on the Prosperity FPSO. The eighth Graduate, Maryam Nasir, was trained in Monaco and the Netherlands, where she participated in the creation of a Digital Twin for the Prosperity FPSO– a digital replica of the vessel, designed to enable information management. Following the completion of the training, the Graduates were awarded official placements within the company.
They now serve in the following capacities: Malik Lewis, Vendor Callout Coordinator; Andy Sattan, Reliability and Optimisation Engineer; Tanisha Selby, Instrument and Controls Engineer; Paula Ceres, Facility Engineer; Raymond Luckhoo, Planning Engineer; Kishaun Lall, Planning Engineer; Daniel Troyer, Facility Engineer, and Maryam Nasir, Data Scientist. The company’s efforts to train and employ Guyanese is in keeping with its aim to develop local content in Guyana.
During the graduation ceremony, General Manager of SBM Offshore Guyana, Martin Cheong noted that the activity is in keeping with the company’s Local Content Master Plan and indicated that this is just one of the capacity development programmes SBM Offshore Guyana offers. He said, “SBM Offshore is committed to building local content and providing capacity-building opportunities for Guyanese to play vital roles in the management of our country’s oil and gas resources.”
President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge, remarked, “What an exciting day to celebrate the beginning of such bright careers at the beginning of a blossoming industry here in Guyana. You all are, as you’ve heard, the first cohort, you are the leaders breaking the ground, you are the future of SBM Offshore, you are the future of the industry and you will lead the way for years and years to come.”
In her remarks, Human Resource Manager, Onecia Johnson noted the resilience of the graduates, who commenced training during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said, “They are committed and resilient. From weathering unfamiliar climates and being away from their families as they underwent training, to absorbing the teachings of the industry experts that they worked alongside, this impressive team of graduates displayed zest for the training opportunities they were presented with.”
Prosperity FPSO Project Director, Boudewijn Ledderhof commended the Graduates for their proactive approach to training, and the vigour with which they undertook their daily tasks, saying, “You have shown that with the right attitude and with the right mindset you can grow rapidly into roles that SBM Offshore needs, and the industry needs. You are all textbook ambassadors for all the cohorts to follow, and you should be very proud of that.”
Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Vickram Bharrat, during his remarks, congratulated the young engineers on their achievement, and commended SBM Offshore for their capacity-building efforts. He noted, “In saying that, we must recognise the work of SBM Offshore, we must commend SBM [Offshore] as well for taking this initiative to ensuring that they build capacity among young people in Guyana.”
A new batch of Graduate Engineers have been recruited as the second cohort of the programme, in alignment with SBM Offshore Guyana’s ongoing initiatives to build local capacity, and expand its Guyana workforce.
