On 15 May, Damen Shipyards and Debmarine Namibia (Pty) Ltd took part in a special steel cutting ceremony to mark the beginning of construction on a new offshore vessel. Namely, in February 2019, Debmarine Namibia awarded a contract to Damen to build a new crawler diamond recovery vessel for offshore operations in Namibia.
Constructed from a Marin Teknikk design, the vessel will be 177 metres long, and is considered one of the most technologically advanced marine diamond recovery vessels in the world. It will also feature a dynamic positioning system (DP2) based on a seven-thruster propulsion system powered by six generators of 3230 eKW each.
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After a tender process, Damen secured the contract with Debmarine Namibia in early 2019 and has since been working on design completion and on preparation of the Mangalia yard for the vessel’s construction.
The vessel will take around two years to build. Damen Shipyards Mangalia will deliver the vessel platform in Mangalia and the vessel will sail on its own keel to Cape Town, South Africa. After the integration of the mission equipment in Cape Town, the vessel is planned to deliver first diamond production in the second quarter of 2022.
Debmarine Namibia operates the largest offshore mine in the world, working at a water depth of between 90 and 150 metres off the south west coast of Namibia.
Michael Curtis, head of the Addition Mining Vessel 3 Project for De Beers Marine, sees the new vessel order as a harbinger for potential future collaboration.
De Beers Marine (South Africa) will construct the mission equipment, including a subsea crawler and diamond recovery plant, in South Africa. When the ship is delivered by Damen, it will be sailed to South Africa where the mission equipment will be integrated into the vessel by De Beers Marine.
