The 177-meter ship, known as Additional Mining Vessel 3 (AMV3) will join Debmarine's existing five-strong fleet, which dredge thousands of tonnes of sediment from 150 meters below the seabed, 12 miles off Namibia's south-western coast. It was commissioned by Debmarine Namibia, a 50/50 joint venture by De Beers and the government of Namibia.

The successful delivery marks the end of the shipbuilding phase of a landmark project that began over three years ago. It is the first vessel to be delivered by Damen Shipyards Mangalia, the Romanian yard that joined the Damen group in 2018, to take on large and complex, engineered to order projects under the banner of the Mid-Sized Vessels division.

The Additional Mining Vessel (AMV#3) as it is technically known, will use sub-sea crawling extraction techniques to retrieve diamonds from the seabed off the coast of Namibia.

These will then be processed on board. 177 metres in length, it is now the largest diamond recovery vessel in the world and the new flagship of the Debmarine Namibia fleet. The vessel is expected to operate for at least 30 years.

Debmarine produces 1.4m carats annually. It uses either airlift-drill technology, or on more modern ships, a 280 tonne track-mounted remote-controlled crawler to bring up the gravel. Then they wash, sift and sort it on board, and return the sediment - as well as the odd octopus - back to the bottom of the ocean.

“De Beers celebrates the completion of the vessel which, after a long period of design, construction and testing has now proceeded to sea” said Michael Curtis, Head of the AMV3 Project. “The vessel build has been a truly multinational effort which has converged successfully at Damen Shipyards Mangalia. The build of this magnificent ship has enjoyed a high profile in Namibia as the largest ever single investment in the history of marine diamond recovery.

“Today marks a significant milestone in the project and for our company as the vessel starts its journey to Cape Town where it will be outfitted with the mission equipment. Damen’s dedication to building this high-quality and complex vessel, under very difficult circumstances and to do so with an excellent safety record is acknowledged and the quality of the ship is a testament to the skills of all who have been involved.”

The AMV3 will also be the most technologically advanced marine diamond recovery vessel in the world and will feature a dynamic positioning system (DP2) based on a seven thruster propulsion system powered by six generators. Michael believes that now is the time dynamic positioning has come into its own.

“Historically, we’ve always used vessels with a 4-point mooring spread – the stability was always there but it takes a day to lift, meaning we lose a production day every seven to eight days.” Now, DP technology surpasses anchoring and offers a much greater degree of flexibility, Michael Curtis, project head for De Beers Marine, explains.

“With DP,” says Michael, “we’re not limited to the size of spread, there’s no risk of anchor loss, we don’t have to carry and maintain anchors and winches, and there’s no safety risk in the handling of anchors.” Moreover, DP requires very little increase in fuel consumption to keep the vessel on its station, so the benefits make it a far more attractive proposition.

This is paragraph text. Click it or hit the Manage Text button to change the font, color, size, format, and more. To set up site-wide paragraph and title styles, go to Site Theme.

"The world record for the largest diamond recovery vessel belongs to the MV Benguela Gem (also known as AMV#3), a 177-meter-long, technologically advanced ship owned by Debmarine Namibia (a De Beers Group and Government of Namibia joint venture).

"Commissioned in 2022, this state-of-the-art vessel uses advanced subsea crawlers to extract high-quality diamonds from the seabed off Namibia, significantly boosting the nation's diamond output and representing a major investment in marine diamond mining."   (AI Overview)

Key Details:

• Name: MV Benguela Gem (AMV#3).
• Operator: Debmarine Namibia, a De Beers Group & Namibian Government JV.
• Size: 177 meters (580 feet) long, making it the largest.
• Technology: Features a DP2 dynamic positioning system, seven thrusters, and advanced subsea crawlers to work at depths of 90-150 meters.
• Purpose: Extracts high-value diamonds from the ocean floor, increasing Namibia's annual production by around 45%.
• Investment: Cost over $420 million (USD). 

"Mangalia shipyard is a large shipyard located 45 km (28 mi) south of the Port of Constanța, in Mangalia, Romania. In 2017, Damen Group acquired Daewoo's shares, and from 2018 it took control of the shipyard. Mangalia is the largest of Damen's shipyards. The ownership of the shipyard is shared between Damen and the Romanian Government, with Damen being responsible for its operations.

"The shipyard is spread over an area of 980,000 m2 (10,500,000 sq ft), has three dry docks with a total length of 982 m (3,222 ft) and 1.6 km (0.99 mi) of berths. In 2002 the company delivered two tankers of 42,500 DWT to the Norwegian company Kleven Floro used for the transportation of orange juice.

"One of the main customers of the shipyard is the German company Hamburg Süd which ordered six container ships of around 6,000 TEU each, and seven ships of 7,100 TEU each as well as four tugboats. The company also signed in 2005 an agreement with Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A., NSB Niederelbe, Gebab and Conti Reederei companies for the construction of 12 container ships of around 5,000 TEU each that will be delivered in stages until 2011 at a total cost of US$1.1 billion."   (Wikipedia)

"The MV Benguela Gem is Debmarine Namibia's flagship marine diamond recovery vessel, the world's most advanced of its kind, designed for efficient, sustainable seabed mining off Namibia's coast, representing a major technological leap with its dynamic positioning, advanced crawlers, and environmentally conscious operations, built to support Namibia's economy and employ local talent." (AI Overview)

Operations & Impact:

• Joint Venture: A 50/50 partnership between the Namibian government and the De Beers Group.
• Economic Contribution: Expected to operate for 30+ years, significantly boosting Namibia's diamond production and supporting national economic growth.
• Local Employment: Primarily crewed by young Namibians, creating skilled jobs in the marine sector.
• Inauguration: Commissioned in March 2022 in Walvis Bay, Namibia

World's First Guitar-Shaped Airport Terminal, Henri Coandă International Airport sets world record

World's Largest Blockboard Factory, world record in Comănești, Romania

World's Largest Rumanit Amber Nugget, world record in Buzau, Romania

 World's Most Powerful Laser: The Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP) in Romania

 World's First Hyperloop: Henri Coanda's Hyperloop