Seizing Suriname’s potential

Trinidad and Tobago

Nooriana Seerattan, then-general manager for Trinidad and Tobago of Blue Water Shipping (BWS), talks to The Energy Year about deploying digital technology to help clients achieve their net-zero goals and how the company is reducing its own emissions. BWS provides bespoke logistics solutions to energy clients in Trinidad and Tobago and the region.

Where in the region have you been most active in upstream efforts over the past year?
From 2023 to the present, we have continued to work with some of our dedicated clients, such as Noble Drilling and Stena Drilling, to name two. We are their main logistics service provider for their campaigns in Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname. The majority of our work for 2022 and 2023 was in supporting Suriname and Guyana.
Suriname in particular comprised the majority of our activity in the region as we supported several drilling campaigns. We expect to see a lot more activity there in 2024 as well, and Trinidad is going to play a major part in that as a trans-shipment hub.

What new digital technology has helped to optimise your operations or improve customer experience?
In our line of service, our newest step in using technology is implementing real-time tracking for ourselves and our clients. Our clients can log in to the online access portal and view the status of their shipments in real time.
What makes it more interesting is that what we have implemented also allows them to track the carbon footprint of their shipments based on the weight and dimensions of the items and the distance travelled. There is a growing initiative among companies to report their emissions, and some are mandated to do so and to include it on their invoices with the region of Europe. So, we can already demonstrate that there is a benefit from using these digital technologies. Our software already in use in our global offices and now here in the region, makes this process much more efficient for them.

Is Trinidad likely to remain a relevant location for port and maintenance services in the region?
Yes. Due to the shallow waters and infrastructure limitations in Guyana over the last few years, it has been difficult to conduct certain operations. Trinidad supported these areas due to the high traffic and volumes to ensure production remained at capacity. However, the recent expansion within the oil and gas industry in Guyana is expected to drive economic and infrastructural development in the country and therefore, it is expected that the port facilities and dredging will take place to enhance the capacity to accommodate larger vessels.

What recent strides have you made in reducing emissions from your operations?
At this point, consolidation is the most effective strategy we can take in this region to reduce emissions. We can offer our clients the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint by having us consolidate their shipments into a minimal number of charters, which saves on fuel use. Sometimes, it may take slightly longer to receive their items, but it helps them achieve their net-zero goals. In some cases, the shipments are urgent, and our goal will remain to ensure the client receives their cargo as quickly as possible.
We are actively working on taking further steps toward GHG [greenhouse gas] reduction. We have in-house engineers and a sustainability team.
We are looking at where our strengths and weaknesses are in that regard and working on a reduction target for each year, starting with 2024. We have included this in our sustainability report, which we made visible to demonstrate our commitment.

How has BWS prepared for the rise of renewable energy projects in the region?
There are opportunities in the region where we would be able to provide our services in renewable energy projects. BWS is taking a strategic approach to preparing our company to work on any type of renewable energy project. As part of this, we’ve acquired several companies in Denmark for their expertise in the renewable energy space.

Read our latest insights on:

• Guyana
• Suriname
• Trinidad and Tobago