— she’s the first female Offshore Maintenance Technician in Guyana

AT just 25 years old, Krystal Trim has broken the proverbial glass ceiling as the first female Offshore Maintenance Technician (OMT) in Guyana, an achievement she takes great pride in and hopes that she has opened an avenue for many more female in her field.

Krystal works at Panthera Solutions, a joint venture partnership between Guyana’s Farfan & Mendes and Canada’s Crosbie Group Limited, which provides world-class industrial solutions and value-added services to the emerging oil and gas industry in Guyana.

As an OMT, Krystal is responsible for installing, testing and maintaining a variety of equipment at the offshore oil rigs.

A labour-intensive position, the job has thus far been dominated by men. But Krystal is hoping she is just the beginning of a wider involvement of females in this area. Since she started, another female OMT has already joined her company and she is looking forward to seeing more women technicians.

“Don’t let the guys beat us at this. I need to see more women, I don’t want it to be just me alone,” she shared during a sit down with the Guyana Chronicle at the Panthera Solutions booth at the recently concluded International Energy Conference and Expo at the Marriott Hotel.

During the expo, several patrons visited the booth to meet and speak with Krystal, commending her on what she has done, and what it means for women all across Guyana. Even President Dr Irfaan Ali and Prime Minister, Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips, who visited the Panthera Solutions booth, applauded Krystal on her achievement.

“I felt like I’ve achieved something of greatness, not only to myself but empowering women out there to show them that anything is possible,” she said of the commendations.

Krystal has been with Panthera since January 2021, undergoing over four months of training that included T-Boiset, which trains persons in safety and emergency response knowledge and skills for travelling to and from offshore, and techno wrap techniques, before she would make her first trip offshore to work.

When the day finally came, Krystal was all excitement to experience her first helicopter ride and to get her feet wet. However, due to the COVID-19 protocols, Krystal had to be quarantined before she went offshore.

“After 14 days of being locked up I couldn’t wait to get out. I was the first to get my bags together and be ready for the helicopter. I was so excited. And from the minute we got there we had your introduction and you start working, and I was ready to start working,” she shared.

NO SURPRISE
Ending up with a job as an OMT came as no surprise to Krystal, who has never been one to shy away from adventure, or back down from a challenge.

She has also always had a love for working in a technical field, and was doing basic masonry and carpentry on her own even before coming to Panthera. She believes her love for being in the technical field is what gave her the edge over other candidates when she applied for the job.

Prior to going to Panthera, Krystal was working a regular nine to five as a Processing Standard Analyst at Teleperformance, but she just knew that a job that involved her being in an office was not for her.

“I’m an outdoor person and I was really getting tired of being in an office. So, I thought why not join the oil and gas industry, it’s new. And I’m glad that I was able to create history by being the first female as an OMT,” she said.

Though she received mostly positive response and support in being the first female OMT, her time was not entirely without its negative encounters. However, she took it all in stride and let it be known that the only thing she was going to be judged on was her abilities and skills.

“I had a warm welcome from everyone except for one encounter,” she shared.

“One day a guy was like ‘you know a woman’s place is in the home’. I said ‘it’s not about a woman’s place is in the home, I’m here providing a service to you and, hand-in-hand, we have to work together to achieve one goal, the ship has to get the oil’. And he watched me and he started laughing and turned around because I wasn’t having it that morning. The other guys however were very supportive.”

Krystal’s nature for adventure had been evident ever since she was a child. With both of her parents being gold miners, Krystal would have spent many a school holiday in the interior of Guyana, on her mother’s mining block.

Aside from being in the interior, Krystal grew up with her mom in “C” Field Sophia and stayed with other family members when her mother was away at work. But it was in the interior that she first got a chance to let her adventurous nature roam free.

“It was fun. My mom’s workers would make arrow and bow for me. I enjoyed learning how to wash down the gold and I enjoyed looking at the wildlife,” she shared.