Debmarine to grow vessels

NAMIBIA’S marine diamond mining major Debmarine Namibia will invest N$7 billion in acquiring a new diamond recovery vessel.

The company announced yesterday that the board of directors had given a nod for the construction of a new, seventh vessel, which is expected to add some 500 000 carats annually to Debmarine Namibia’s production, an increase of approximately 35% on current production.

Debmarine Namibia is a 50/50 joint venture between the government and the De Beers Group.

According to their 2018 operational update, Debmarine’s output was 1,4 million carats.

Bruce Cleaver, chief executive officer of the De Beers Group, said: “Some of the highest quality diamonds in the world are found at the sea off the Namibian coast. With this investment, we will be able to optimise new technology to find and recover diamonds more efficiently, and meet growing consumer demand across the globe.”

The company said the new vessel is expected to create more than 160 new jobs, in addition to Debmarine Namibia’s current workforce of 975 employees.

Tom Alweendo, the mines minister said: “We note and appreciate the investment announced yesterday by Debmarine Namibia. It is through investments like this that we can continue to develop Namibia’s economy. As the government, we will continue to do what we can to promote and encourage investments in the mining sector.”

Netherlands-headquartered shipbuilding company Damen Shipyards was allocated the vessel construction tender, and is expected to complete the job before 2022 as the ship is expected to commence operations then.

The Namdeb Holdings Group, which houses Debmarine, last year garnered revenue of about N$13 billion, and invested around N$1,1 billion in fixed investments.

Namdeb Holdings has been the single large tax revenue contributor to the Namibian government, with combined corporate tax and royalties of N$20 billion between 2012 and 2018 from the N$74 billion sales revenue figure.

The Washington Post reported in 2017 that De Beers had acquired mining rights of more than 3 000 square miles of the Namibian seafloor, and had only explored 3% of that area then.

Namdeb’s land operations in 2018 recovered 571 000 carats, up from 426 000 recovered in 2017. Debmarine is, therefore, a great contributor to the company’s overall diamond production, hence the N$7 billion investment.

– lazarus@namibian.com; Twitter: Lasarus_A