SS Nujoma makes final stop in Cape Town Debmarine Namibia’s latest diamond exploration and sampling vessel, the mv SS Nujoma, has reached another crucial milestone in its journey to being commissioned locally.The marine diamond company reported this week that the ship had arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, on Saturday, having sailed from the Kleven Verft shipyard in Ulsteinvik, Norway, where it was built, three months ago.
The ship is being fitted with mission equipment during its stop-over in Cape Town, comprising a sampling system and treatment plant to a combined mass of 2 000 tons.
“Debmarine Namibia is satisfied with the progress of the project to date,” the company’s CEO, Otto Shikongo, said on Sunday.
“It is a good position to be in on this large investment, with the project currently being two months ahead of schedule and cost forecasts looking favourable,” he said.
Once commissioned, Debmarine Namibia said the SS Nujoma was expected to create up to 141 new jobs, and the 90% Namibian crew have already benefited from significant investment in training and skills development.
That training involved getting acquainted with the latest modern dynamic positioning vessel technology and with the latest marine engines.
The crew will receive further training on the operation and maintenance of mission equipment.
Shikongo said acquisition of the new vessel was motivated by the company’s need to maintain sustainable production levels by sampling more areas, at higher rates and at reduced costs.
“The mv SS Nujoma is not required for the purpose of production but to broadly assess and identify the potential mineralisation, for the purpose of sampling,” Shikongo said.
“The new vessel addition will expand Debmarine Namibia operations bringing additional sampling capacity and future capability. This will significantly enhance future added benefits, such as increased operational efficiencies and employment creation, to the benefit of our shareholders, stakeholders and Namibian people.”
The SS Nujoma is Debmarine Namibia’s sixth vessel, and represents approximately N$2.3 billion in terms of investment
Its construction was made possible by funding from two local banks, namely Standard Bank Namibia and RMB Namibia. Debmarine covered 25% of the project cost.
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