Gov’t acquires software device to monitor offshore activities

Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat has announced the acquisition of an advanced software system specifically designed to monitor offshore activities.

The minister made the disclosure during a press conference hosted at the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) complex on Tuesday.

“It has the capability to detect any oil residue in the water… The software is supported by the company in the US so even if they detect something immediately, they can make contact with us. The software can even quantify the amount of oil in that water so we have that in place to detect any oil spills because that has also been an issue,” he said.

The software sourced from IT company, Maxar Technologies with assistance from the US Embassy can provide livestreams of all vessels offshore in Guyana.

This includes Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSOs) vessels, drill ships, supply boats, and other marine vessels traversing the country’s waters.

It can also identify the registration of vessels and fishing boats, determining whether it is a legal or illegal vessel.

Meanwhile, the minister also announced that the government will be obtaining a capping stack through the Yellowtail license, which is expected to arrive in country next year.

A capping stack is a device that controls, diverts, and shuts in a well flow stream during a well containment operation.

The minister underscored that “Not many countries, in fact there is no country in this part of the world that has a capping stack in country. Most of them are in Houston Texas so it makes sense even though it costs a little more to have that capping stack in country.”

To this end, he noted that this is part of the government’s strategic plan “in the eventuality of a spill.”