Guyana/TT joint venture seeking to prep locals in subsea support services

Caribbean Subsea Specialist Inc (CSSI), a majority Guyanese joint venture partnership incorporated in Guyana, is looking to train Guyanese to support the oil and gas industry with a host of offshore services including subsea support.
Incorporated in late 2017, CSSI is a joint venture partnership between a Trinidadian firm, Subsea Specialist, and Guyanese-owned Beharry Group of Companies. The Trinidadian company brings to the table several other international partners that service the offshore industry.

With over 30 years of experience in the subsea industry from pipeline surveys to subsea installation, this organisation now aims to bring world-class service to the expanding offshore industry in Guyana.
The main services provided by CSSI are Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) services; commercial diving services, and logistics & procurement services.
Speaking during an introductory ceremony on Thursday evening, CSSI’s Operations Director, Dylan Galt, revealed that so far, some $15 million has been invested into the local operations – a big part of which is training Guyanese to service the oil and gas.
“We want to get the Guyanese people ready to work. We want to build the local skilled labour… Guyana has this [local content] legislation in order and working today, we really are trying to get the Guyanese people, the local Guyanese guys, crossed-trained and ready to go offshore,” he told reporters.
According to Galt, CSSI has so far trained two sets of Guyanese in ROV services – one set in 2019 and the second set earlier this year. Another training session is expected to come on stream soon.
The Director further disclosed that they are also planning to conduct diving training for commercial divers in the coming months. In fact, the company has already recruited diving experts to come to Guyana to train locals to get them up to par with industry best practices and international standards.
“We have selected [the diving experts] already so we’re in the process of getting that training going and getting the guys certified to do commercial diving services in Guyana,” he noted.
In fact, Galt emphasised CSSI’s commitment to the country’s local content laws. He posited that the end goal is to have 100% Guyanese running the company with the Trinidadian firm serving as a consultant.
This, he noted however, will take something. He pointed to one of his company’s partners, RCI Energy Group, which opened in Trinidad back in 2006 and is now fully run by Trinidadians – something which CSSI is hoping to replicate in Guyana.
“Along with the ROV services and the training of the ROV personnel, and the diving services and the training of the divers, they have these other more technical roles with our partners that we’re bring to the table here. The goal is to get it 100% Guyanese run, Guyanese employed.”
“[So, we want to] continue to build the knowledge base in Guyana and of the Guyanese people, and get them to a level that is second to none in the world. Those guys in Trinidad now, after the training and stuff that we’ve put them through over the years, they’re now considered some of the best ROV guys. Even some of the ROV Guyanese guys that we’ve trained three years ago, back in 2019, they’ve been paving the way for the rest of the guys we trained recently,” Galt related.
Moreover, Galt went on to talk about his company’s partnership with the Beharry Group of Companies, which was birthed through past collaborations.
“Couple of [Subsea Specialist’s] Directors knew them over the years and we realised it would be a good fit. [Suresh Beharry, Chairman of the Group] saw the value that our team from Trinidad could bring to the table with the experience that they have under their belt and it has been a really good symbiotic relationship so far. We’re doing well together and getting everything going together,” he explained. (G8)