ABB is powering De Beers' world's largest diamond recovery vessel

ABB has been awarded a contract by Damen Shipyards Group to supply a state-of-the-art power system for the world's first custom-built diamond recovery vessel

ABB will supply an integrated power package to ensure that the world's largest and most technologically advanced diamond recovery vessel meets the requirements for superior safety, power and availability. The ship was made by Damen Shipyards Mangalia on the Black Sea in Romania. Financial details of the order were not disclosed.

With a total cost of $468 million, the vessel is the largest single contribution ever made by the marine diamond industry. It employs an advanced seabed crawling skill – a skill that retrieves diamonds from the seabed. The newbuild will be delivered in 2022 to Debmarine Namibia, a joint venture between the Government of the Republic of Namibia and De Beers Group. De Beers Group is the world's leading diamond company with unrivalled expertise in the exploration, excavation and marketing of rough diamonds, which has been driving it forward since 1888.

Namibia is home to the world's richest known marine diamond minerals, and Debmarine Namibia has mined some of the finest quality diamonds in the waters 90-150 meters deep off the country's southwest coast. Traditionally, onshore along the Namibian coastline, diamond mining has been carried out in open pit mines, however, offshore mining is increasing as Namibia's onshore production value is estimated to be depleted within 15 years.

The new 177-metre-long vessel was planned by renowned Norway naval architect Marin Teknikk. It will be the largest vessel in the owner's fleet, with an increase of 8,000 tonnes of displacement over Debmarine Namibia's current largest vessel, the Mafuta (vessel weight is based on hull displacement). It is estimated that this will increase the owner's annual production value by 35%, contributing an additional 500,000 carats to today's production value levels.

The offshore mining specialist had previously installed ABB's power system on SS Nujoma (SSN), Debmarine Namibia's deepwater diamond exploration and sampling vessel.

"The success of the SSN, with its high reliability, efficient positioning and low fuel consumption, as well as safe operation, helped to select the same system for the new diamond retraction vessel, and ABB's power system was an integral part of the solution," said Michael Curtis, head of the new build project at Debmarine Namibia.

The latest ABB know-how will guarantee unrivalled uptime for your vessels. In addition to state-of-the-art systems for power generation, distribution, and variable speed drive propulsion systems, the solution also includes a large in-line double-conversion marine discontinuous power supply (MUPS) to support the vessel's critical manoeuvring processes, significantly reducing the danger of critical power loss and downtime. Designed for discontinuous availability, ABB's MUPS guarantee backup power for the ship's handling system for subsea crawlers and processing plants, which sorts sediments lifted from the seabed to extract diamonds. ABB's advanced and tightly integrated powertrain will help optimize engine loads, reduce operating times and fuel costs, and reduce maintenance requirements.

"ABB is globally recognized as a leading technology company that provides solutions for both advanced and messy custom vessels. We are delighted to be working with them as part of both companies' landmark newbuilding project," said Damen Offshore & Transport, Managing Director of Mark Vermeulen.

Juha Koskela, Managing Director of ABB Marine & Ports, said: "This is a real and special vessel, equipped with advanced skills, and the project required a particularly close relationship with the customer to guarantee the best solution to precise specifications. "We are pleased to see the team on the back of this state-of-the-art vessel recognise the benefits of power, safety and uptime that come with integration. This success is also in line with the growing attractiveness of ABB's power, digital and connected solutions in a growing number of vessel types and operational situations. ”

ABB is powering De Beers' world's largest diamond recovery vessel

ABB is powering De Beers' world's largest diamond recovery vessel

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