Counting on the risks

And that’s because his company, the Hummingbird Group, a safety and training outfit, has captured a market that’s been there for the taking.

With top-of-the-line health, safety, security and environmental services, Vieira, managing director, and a helicopter pilot with 20 years’ experience, has placed the company in a position to take advantage of new opportunities in the Trinidad and Tobago energy sector and in the emerging energy markets of Latin America.

Also at the controls to guide Hummingbird into this exciting new era is his wife Agna Da Costa-Vieira, who is the group’s administrative director, and financial director Nicholas Sudan.

His wife Agna has held several administrative posts at national airline BWIA and the now defunct Air Caribbean airline.

Formed in 1996, the group comprises Hummingbird Helicopter Services, HHSL Safety Services, Hummingbird Aviation Training and Sky Search.

Speaking at the recent opening of HHSL’s new training centre in El Socorro, Capt Vieira said the centre’s establishment was the realisation of a dream he had since 1997 and the culmination of a personal goal he set for himself in 1998.

He said in 1997, there was no training available locally for Helicopter Underwater Egress Training (HUET), which is vital for training flight crews to handle emergency landings at sea. Noting that this training was vital given the amount of offshore exploration taking place in TT, Vieira said he succeeded in convincing a company in Florida to come to TT with the necessary equipment and make the commitment to train, assess, certify and support local personnel in its use.

"In 1998, we introduced HUET here in TT and it was well-received. We continued to build upon it and eventually we tailored our programme to the needs of local petrochemical companies," he stated.

Boasting that HHSL is the first nationally-owned company to bring in such state-of-the-art equipment and offer the highest levels of training in its use, Vieira said the sky is the limit for Hummingbird.

To this end, he said the company has acquired a Multiple Egress Training Simulator (METS), which can hold a maximum of six persons and simulate conditions for a ditched aircraft at sea. The second piece of equipment is a fire training simulator, a 40-by-10 inch steel structure capable of training persons to deal with all types of fire hazards.

HHSL is also the only 100 percent locally owned company contracted by bpTT to provide basic safety training for onshore and offshore workers and the only medic first aid provided with Silver status in TT and the region.

All of Hummingbird’s safety training equipment and practices have been certified by the National Training Agency and Vieira said he was hoping to receive similar certification from the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation, whose standards are recognised worldwide as the pinnacle of training achievement in the offshore oil and gas industry.

Vieira also indicated that the Hummingbird Group has made important strides in the area of security through its member company, Skysearch Ltd, which offers security training services in areas such as baggage, cargo, personnel, mail x-screening, bomb threat management and International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) maritime codes. TT signed on to the ISPS convention in July 2004.

Agna said Hummingbird’s journey to this stage showed that international standards, competencies and capability can be sourced locally, using local resources.

"This is no dream or imagining . It is a reality that can become intrinsic to our everyday business lives," she said.

Energy Minister Eric Williams expressed the view that Hummingbird had positioned itself to not only serve the local energy sector but also take advantage of emerging opportunities in regional markets.