Jan De Nul: Guyana’s first artificial island takes shape

Vreed-en-Hoop Shore Base Inc (VEHSI) has started the new year with the emergence of the first part of its artificial island in the Demerara River. The consortium managing the project hailed this as a momentous achievement and a first for Guyana.

VEHSI is a joint venture between NRG Holdings Inc. – a 100 percent Guyanese-owned consortium that is the majority shareholder – and Jan De Nul, an international maritime infrastructure company headquartered in Luxembourg.

This new island is part of the reclaimed land that will be transformed into the estimated 44 acre mega-project to create a shorebase facility. This facility will form part of the US$300M Port of Vreed-en-Hoop project.

The project is currently in the sandkey reclamation phase.

During this phase, the dredger, M.V Galileo Galilei, will continue the process of adding reclaimed material for the creation of the artificial island on which the construction of the new terminal will be situated.

This project will, in the first phase, add more than 44 acres to Guyana’s coastline. Phase one of the project is meant to be the special purpose vehicle to serve as a SURF (Subsea Umbilicals, Riser and Flowlines) Shorebase for Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) projects.

The island structure, while visible, is not yet a fully stable formation.

The project started the first step in June, which entailed the dredging of the access channel in the Demerara River including the deepening/widening of the existing nautical channel, berth pockets, and turning basin.

This phase has been hailed a success by the project managers and the upgraded channel has been handed over to the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD).