Sod turn for US$300M Vreed-en-Hoop shore base facility

Jun 23, 2022 News

Officials at the sod turning event on Tuesday. [Azruddin Mohamed photo]

Kaieteur News – On Tuesday, the sod was turned for the US$300 million Vreed-en-Hoop Shorebase Inc. (VEHSI) which will sit on 400 hectares of coastal land.
The VEHSI is being constructed by NRG Holdings Incorporated, a 100-percent Guyanese-owned consortium along with Hadi’s World Incorporated, National Hardware Limited and ZRN Investments Incorporated are the Guyanese investors involved in the project. They have partnered with Jan de Nul Group, a Belgian engineering and construction firm which offers marine services, offshore service, civil engineering, environmental management activities and project development.

An impression of the VEHSI project

The sod-turning exercise which took place at the project site, Plantation Best, West Coast Demerara (WBD) signals the commencement of the construction of a US$300 million facility for oil major ExxonMobil Guyana to provide shore base services to its upcoming US$10B Yellowtail development offshore Guyana.
Notably, several vessels are already in Guyana’s waters to commence the first phase of the project with a December 2023 deadline for completion. One of the main vessels, the Zheng He, will facilitate the deepening, widening and dredging of the access channel, as well as land reclamation. It also includes an offshore terminal, dry dock facility and fabrication yard spanning 65 hectares.
Once the first phase is completed, the second phase which involves deepening the dredging of the access canal and expanding reclamation will come on stream. Both projects are expected to be completed by 2024.
The local investors are confident that this transformational venture will among other things; significantly reduce the cost of shipping, while creating a springboard facility that will aid in the development of other local service provision companies here.