Ghana assists Guyana in certifying ‘Liza Destiny’ for helicopter landing

Jul 19, 2019 News

A Ghanaian inspector has cleared the country’s first floating oil production and storage vessel, the Liza Destiny, which left Singapore this week for Guyana.

Chief Air Navigations and Aerodromes Inspector of GCAA, Adrian Bassier (right), on board the Liza Destiny on Tuesday in Singapore with the Ghanaian inspector (centre) and another official

Over the weekend, according to Guyana Civil Aviation Authority Director-General, Lt. Colonel Egbert Field, A.A., the authority sent its Chief Air Navigations and Aerodromes Inspector, Adrian Bassier, to conduct a helideck inspection aboard the Liza Destiny, in Singapore.
The inspection was conducted in collaboration with the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (Ghana CAA) which has qualified inspectors and technical expertise in the licensing and certification of helidecks.
“The inspection in Singapore was done to ensure compliance with Guyana’s Civil Aviation regulations and the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), while the vessel was in the shipyard so that any irregularity can be addressed before it leaves the port,” Fields explained.
The collaboration between Guyana and Ghana for this certification process emanated from a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between GCAA and Ghana CAA in December 2018, in Nairobi, Kenya, at the ICAO Air Services Negotiation (ICAN) event.
“It is a significant indication of words in actions as it testifies to the fruition of bilateral commitments made by the President of Ghana, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, to H.E. President David Granger, during a State visit to Guyana in June 2019,” according to GCAA.
The MOU between the two civil aviation authorities provides for technical cooperation and sharing of expertise and knowledge in the areas of civil aviation between the two Civil Aviation Authorities.
The swiftly emerging oil and gas sector has left Guyana scrambling to raise its capacity in a number of areas, including in the aviation field.
Yesterday, the GCAA made it clear that it is now building capacity to ensure it has the oversight capacity for these kinds of offshore vessels.
The inspector from Ghana was delegated by the Director-General of the GCAA to perform the inspection functions on behalf of the authority.
“This is a normal practice when a state’s civil aviation authority does not have the requisite capacity to conduct an inspection or certification exercise, The Ghanaian Inspector performed this function on behalf of the GCAA so that the requisite licence and certification for helideck would be issued by the GCAA, the agency that will be responsible for oversight of helidecks on Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels in Guyana’s territory.”
The Liza Destiny is ExxonMobil’s Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel, which is expected in Guyana in September.
The drill ship was commissioned by the First Lady, Mr. Sandra Granger, in Singapore in June 2019.