The Vreed-en-Hoop Shorebase has received its first commercial ship, the MV Virtuous Striker.
This was disclosed by President Dr Irfaan Ali via his social media page today, where he noted that at 190m long, this vessel is the longest to ever enter the Demerara River.
“She arrived at Guyana’s first man-made island with an 8m draft, loaded with 26,900 metric tonnes of aggregate,” he explained.
The Vreed-en-Hoop Shorebase project is expected to become operational this year, with the second phase set to commence in 2024.
In April 2022, ExxonMobil Guyana and Vreed-en-Hoop Shorebase Incorporated (VESHI) signed a 20-year agreement for shore base services to be provided at the port of Vreed-en-Hoop facility to support the US oil giant’s operations offshore Guyana. The sod was subsequently turned in June on the US$300 million facility.
VEHSI is a joint venture between a fully-owned Guyanese consortium – NRG Holdings Incorporated, and Jan De Nul Group, the Belgium-based company undertaking the project that specialises in offshore, marine, civil, environment, and project development.
The consortium initially included Hadi’s World Inc, owned by businessmen Nazar “Shell” Mohamed and Azruddin Mohamed; Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer and Eddie Boyer of National Hardware Guyana Limited; and Andron Alphonso of ZRN Investments Inc.
NRG held a majority stake of 85 per cent in VEHSI, while the remaining 15 per cent is owned by Jan De Nul – the company that is constructing the facility.
However, Hadi’s World Inc. has since sold its shares to the other partners.
The multimillion-dollar port, when completed, will feature an offshore terminal; fabrication, umbilical and spooling yards; a dry dock facility; a wharf and berths, and administrative buildings, among other facilities spanning 65 hectares.
