Additional 26 acres of artificial island set to transform Guyana’s supply chain capabilities

…as VEHSI seeks out investments for project

As part of an ambitious project to bolster Guyana’s supply chain and logistics capabilities, Vreed-en-Hoop Shorebase Inc (VEHSI) Director, Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer, revealed that the company is now working to develop an additional 26 acres of artificial island to support this goal.
The Director made this highlight during a recent episode of the Energy Perspectives Podcast.
Deygoo-Boyer noted that the recently completed US$300 million Vreed-en-Hoop Shorebase, represents only one part of plans to revolutionise Guyana’s logistics and supply chain capabilities.
He revealed that the construction method used to create the 44-acre artificial island, also allows for an additional 26 acres of island to be constructed.

“When you consider the 44-acre island that was being purpose-built for ExxonMobil. In reality, the methods we’d use for construction actually allowed us to have what we anticipated to be around a 70-acre island. So, we’re now working out how do we, and what do we do with the additional areas that have been created and how do we, you know, deploy those areas.”
The director noted that stakeholders within the consortium had acquired the land used for the Vreed-en-Hoop Shorebase project along with some additional areas to execute an even bigger transformative project.
The director noted that the end goal is to construct a revolutionary facility that will be called the Port of Vreed-en-Hoop.
“…and under the Port of Vreed-en-Hoop project, VEHSI we see as just a sub-project; and I’ve always touted whenever I’ve spoken publicly about this, that we see the next phase of this as being investments that can really impact the average Guyanese citizen,” he disclosed.
Emphasising on how this project will benefit Guyanese citizens and the country as a whole, the director explained that the project will allow Exxon to move more of its operations onto Guyana shores whilst also allowing for additional berths outside of the oil and gas sector.
“VEHSI, you know, is assisting Exxon and bringing more of Exxon’s value chain onto Guyana Shores because a lot of the work being done on this base was done elsewhere in areas such as Trinidad and Tobago or Houston before, but that is an indirect benefit.”
The director added. “The more direct benefit is when we can expand or add additional berths that are not servicing the oil and gas industry but that are servicing the normal commercial shipping which would then have a direct impact on the average person. So for us we are recovering from investing and building VEHSI but figuring out how do we take the next steps to get a berth that can actually, you know, make an impact on the average Guyanese citizen.”
Last December, with all three phases of the US$300 million VEHSI being completed, VEHSI Director Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer had revealed that they are looking to officially hand over the facility to ExxonMobil in January of 2025.
It was also explained that the shore base will support petroleum operations, including offshore sub-sea equipment installation for capital projects, the storage and preservation of emergency response equipment such as capping stacks, and the fabrication of critical equipment like Pipeline End Termination (PLETS) and Flowline End Termination (FLETS) in Guyana.
In April 2022, ExxonMobil Guyana and VEHSI signed a 20-year agreement for shore base services to be provided at the port of Vreed-en-Hoop facility to support the United States (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 includes, among others, Boyer of National Hardware Guyana Limited, and Andron Alphonso of ZRN Investments Inc.
Located in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), the Vreed-en-Hoop facility occupies some 40 acres of coastal land. Phase One of the project saw the deepening, widening, and dredging of the access channel, as well as land reclamation.
It also included work on an offshore terminal, dry dock facility, and fabrication yard spanning 65 hectares. Meanwhile, Phase Two involved deepening the dredging of the access canal and expanding reclamation. The mega-port will centralise multiple shipping and logistic services in one location.
In November 2023, the Shore Base received its first commercial ship, the MV Virtuous Striker. Additionally, with a cargo of over 26,900 tonnes, it was one of the largest payloads to ever be offloaded. The docking and offloading of the vessel marked a major milestone for the facility. At 190m long, this vessel was the longest to ever enter the Demerara River at the time.