Local firm fabricates Debmarine vessel parts
By Business Reporter
3C METAL Belmet Namibia based in Walvis Bay has been awarded the contract to fabricate a large number of plates and structures to be installed on Debmarine Namibia new vessel, the Additional Mining Vessel no.3 (AMV3) which is the company’s largest and most advanced diamond recovery vessel to date.
Construction of the vessel is taking place at the Damen Shipyard in Mangalia, Romania and various parts are sourced from all over the world.
According to Debmarine Namibia CEO Otto Shikongo the project has a far reaching global impact as parts are sourced from around the world.
The mission equipment is been built in the Port of Cape Town concurrently with the construction of the vessel. The mission equipment consists of the recovery tool and processing plant of which parts of the steel works are being manufactured in Walvis Bay by 3C Metal Belmet.
To attest to their participation in construction of the new vessel, the Managing Director of 3C Metal Belmet Namibia Jarcu Groenewald commented: “The project stretched our capacity as it was a big learning curve for our employees and we are grateful for the opportunity given by Debmarine Namibia. As a result we managed to keep all our staff employed through this tough economic downturn related to Covid-19.”
He added that the project was the biggest to be awarded to 3C Metal Belmet Namibia to date, which resulted in an expansion of their facilities and equipment in order to produce quality products. The company is now confident and equipped to take on more advanced projects.
The steel fabrication started 10 months ago and is expected be done by end of October.
“Debmarine Namibia strongly believes that local spending is a catalyst to growth and development of local enterprises as well as the creation of numerous job opportunities. To this effect, 3C Belmet Metal Namibia had 70 employees working on the project.
“In addition to adding value to the country, Debmarine Namibia’s contribution is made up of the value we add by paying wages, employee benefits, taxes and royalties as well as our dividend and interest payments and the capital we retain for investing in the growth of the business. We also make significant payments to our suppliers of goods and services,” Debmarine Namibia highlighted.
The new vessel which is the most advanced marine diamond recovery vessel should be commissioned in 2021 and is expected to create more than 161 new jobs alongside Debmarine Namibia’s current workforce of 975 employees. The company has started to mobilise and train its permanent employees well in advance.
On completion, the vessel is expected to add 500 000 carats annually to Debmarine Namibia’s production, an increase of approximately 35 percent on current production.
The AMV3 construction is one of the largest commercial transactional deals in Namibia last year, five commercial banks partnered in a US$375 million financing deal for 80 percent of the vessel construction costs and 20 percent by Debmarine Namibia. In its first five years of production, the AMV3 is expected to contribute N$2billion per annum in taxes and royalties to the Namibian Treasury.