GCAA certifies first ever Guyanese heli-deck inspector

Mar 29, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – Guyana will no longer have to seek overseas heli-deck inspection services as the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on Tuesday certified the country’s first ever heli-deck inspector – Mr. Adrian Bassier.

At a simple ceremony at its High Street, Kingston office yesterday, the GCAA also licensed the heli-deck for the Prosperity Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO). Delivering brief remarks at the ceremony, GCAA Director General, Egbert Field expressed that Guyana having a heli-deck inspector is very important since the country’s oil sector is developing. The Director General recalled that in 2016 when the first heli-deck for the first FPSO had to be certified, Guyana was deficient in a heli-deck inspector.

He explained that he had contacted the Director General of Ghana requesting their assistance and that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which signed between GCAA and Ghana Civil Aviation Authority in December 2018 had allowed for the Ghanaian Director General to assist Guyana. “I called the Director General of Ghana requesting his assistance and the MOU which exist between our authorities, that give him the authority and allowed him to assist us by lending us his heli-deck inspector who had to travel to Singapore in order to conduct that heli-deck inspection,” Mr. Field shared.

The country’s third FPSO – Prosperity. (Photo courtesy of SBM Offshore Guyana)

He went onto to state that Guyana’s Chief Air Navigations and Aerodromes Inspector at GCAA, Adrian Bassier proceeded to Singapore to understudy him. After undergoing more than two sessions, Bassier later became a fully qualified inspector in order to conduct heli-deck inspection for approval. “Today we can happily say that Guyana has its first heli-deck inspector after the last inspection,” Field noted.

The country’s first ever Heli-deck Inspector, Adrian Bassier (right) receiving his certificate on Tuesday from Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Ceremony (GCAA).

According to the Director General, Mr. Bassier conducted the heli-deck inspection on the third FPSO- Prosperity. Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill in his remarks said that Guyana having engaged a foreign partner for heli-deck inspection a few years, now would not have to go that same route again. “We have now capacity incountry and that is very, very important. That is why investment in human resources development, as Guyana develops this new sector is important,” the minister said.

Prosperity Project Director, Boudewijn Ledderhof receiving the license from Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill.

According to the Minister, with all that is happening, the country must be able to have the necessary skills, technical capacity and the ability to regulate what is happening in Guyana. He added that with Mr. Bassier being the first in this field, “it is in the first of a set of cadres, that we would develop to ensure that we have the inhouse capacity.”

Kaieteur News understands that the heli-deck which takes about two to three days to inspect is used as a landing point for personnel and goods that are transported to and from the vessel. At yesterday’s ceremony too, Prosperity FPSO was given its license for the use of its heli-deck. This publication had reported that Prosperity has set sail to Guyana from Singapore. The new FPSO will add to Guyana’s current fleet- the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity FPSOs.

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Director General, Egbert Field, Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), heli-deck inspector, Mr. Adrian Bassier

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