On Monday 20th July, V.Ships supported SBM to complete a complex crew change for SBM Offshore FPSO Liza Destiny, relieving the last batch of 8 crew members. The Onsigners had arrived 2 weeks earlier, completed their quarantine ashore at Georgetown, Guyana and on testing COVID-19 negative flew out offshore to resume their duties after a gap of more than three months.

The Liza Destiny – the first FPSO vessel to extract the first barrel of oil out of Guyana – was, like many vessels, impacted heavily by COVID-19 international travel restrictions. Airport closures and travel restrictions meant that despite SBM and V.Ships’s best efforts, crew changes were almost impossible for a number of months.

The crew change was a result of the collective efforts of both SBM and V.Ships offices, SBM Guyana shore based and Liza Destiny Offshore staff, who worked tirelessly to ensure that the overdue crew could be relieved and new crew could join.

“This was a collaborative effort tackling a number of logistical challenges, including the arrangement of transport, visas and compliance with various government regulations, all while the situation continued to change rapidly. I’d like to thank the crew on board who remained patient while we worked hard to iron out the details, as well as SBM and ExxonMobil for helping in making the impossible possible.” – Allan Falkenberg, CEO of Crew Management and Offshore at V.Group.

“A huge well done to the Liza destiny V.Ships guys and appreciation from the top management.” – Colm Kilcullen, Offshore Installation Manager for SBM.