By Lisa Hamilton

EL DORADO Offshore (EDO) has partnered with the Carnegie School of Home Economics, providing jobs for 16 of its graduates, all of whom will be working at the company’s offshore facilities.

EDO supports ExxonMobil by providing manpower for drilling and supply vessels. It has provided some 42 offshore employees to the oil giant thus far.

At a three-day training programme on Monday, the Carnegie graduates were drilled in safety, personal hygiene and toolbox talk meetings, preparing them to work on an actual oil rig.

The company, through the work of Trinidadian Head Chef and Catering Manager of EDO, Calvin Chin Sue, has been able to establish an Offshore Catering Department, designed to meet international food hygiene standards.

Chin Sue, who has worked in the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, and Venezuela, among other countries, praised the training and pointed out that he was able to interact with a “wonderfully, talented, young group of people”.

On array at the event was a variety of local and international dishes, chosen by the team and prepared by the graduates for the delectation of all in attendance.

Kadesha Giddings, one of the graduates, expressed excitement to work offshore and a willingness to expand her skills.

“It’s a whole different experience… I did the training here at Carnegie where you’re accustomed to cooking a certain style of food for a certain kind of people… but, on the rig, there are different ethnicities, different cultures, nationalities, so you have to prepare a wider variety of food… I think I will still be learning everyday with that experience,” the young lady said.

Chin Sue said while Guyana is new to offshore catering, the team is hoping to maintain the partnership formed in training graduates to work on oil rigs in the future.

Usually, guest houses, restaurants and catering shops are the main employers of graduates of the school. Highlighting this, Carnegie board member, Renata Chuck-A-Sang said the school is dedicated to serving the hospitality industry.

“We will continue to train our staff and our students to provide the opportunity for partnership within this industry. Unless we can do that effectively, then we will lose our relevance,” Chuck-A-Sang said.

She was proud that the school was able to expand its services to the oil and gas industry.

EDO Country Manager Kerri Gravesande congratulated the graduates and said the company is looking forward to having offshore catering training being implemented into the school’s curriculum.