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Damen Starts Construction on World’s Largest Diamond Mining Ship
Dutch shipbuilding group Damen Shipyards has started construction on a new offshore diamond mining vessel for a unit of De Beers in Namibia. De Beers Marine Namibia (aka Debmarine Namibia), 50/50 joint venture between the Namibian Government and De Beers Group, awarded Damen with the contract to build the new vessel in February 2019 for offshore operations in Namibia. The steel cutting ceremony marking the official start of construction took place over the weekend at Damen’s shipyard in Mangalia, Romania. At 177 meters (577 feet) long, the newbuild will be the largest diamond mining ship in the world, taking the crown from Debmarine’s 174-meter Mafuta. Constructed from a Marin Teknikk design, the MT 6027 will also be the most technologically advanced marine diamond recovery vessel in the world. On-board features include a dynamic positioning system (DP2) based on a seven-thruster propulsion system powered by six generators of 3230 eKW each. The vessel is expected to cost around $468 million, representing the largest ever single investment in the marine diamond industry. Construction of the vessel is expected to take about two years. 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 expected to deliver first diamond production in Q2 2022.
Largest diamond mining ship in the world launched by De Beers
Diamond company De Beers announced the launch of what they are claiming is the largest sea-going vehicle in the world for mining diamonds, Rough and Polished reports. Otto Shikongo, chief executive of De Beers Marine Namibia, said that the latest addition to their fleet will harvest more ore and generate more revenue than any of their other ships. The boat, dubbed the MV Mafuta, will be the fifth in DebMarine's arsenal, but will soon be single-handedly responsible for a full 30% of the firm's annual diamond production. http://www.israelidiamond.co.il/english/News.aspx?boneId=918&objid=12845
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