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The Namibian News

11 Dec 2023

Nations and Industry Partners Respond to Green Shipping Challenge

Source: Yara

Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry are co-leading an international initiative to accelerate reduction of emissions from the shipping sector, and on December 1, during COP28, they chaired a new round of announcements under that initiative, the Green Shipping Challenge.Various countries and organizations proposed measures to reduce emissions from shipping. This year’s announcements include:• Amazon: Amazon and other…

14 Jun 2022

West Africa Market Harbors Positive Potential for MODU Operators

Chart courtesy MSI

The region could be a key growth market for the oil and gas industry going forward, writes Joshua Belo-Osagie, Maritime Strategies International (MSI).Improving sentiment surrounds energy market prospects offshore West Africa, the positive mood underpinned by higher oil prices, reformed regulatory frameworks in key markets including Angola and Nigeria and the discovery of major prospects off the Ivory Coast and Namibia.In addition, the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have only reinforced some of these pre-existing dynamics…

10 Mar 2021

Namibian Marine Diamond Miner Reports Drop in Production as Demand Slumps

World's largest diamond recovery vessel is expected to enter operations in 2022 - Credit: Marine Teknikk

Debmarine Namibia, a subsidiary of Anglo American's diamond unit De Beers, on Monday reported a 13% drop in production to 1.125 million carats last year as demand slumped during the COVID-19 pandemic.Namibia has the richest known marine diamond deposits in the world, and is among the top 10 producers of gem-quality diamonds globally. Production, however, has been severely hampered by weak demand on the international market.Debmarine's revenue fell 5% to 6.6 billion Namibian dollars ($427 million), the company said.

13 May 2020

Namdock is Back to Business

Photo: Namdock

Namibian ship repair company Namdock has resumed full operations with effect from Tuesday, in accordance with the inception of stage 2 of Namibia’s national COVID-19 lockdown, which has seen the partial easing of restrictive measures thanks to the recent flattening of the minimal in-country infection curve.“Over the past few weeks we have put strict personal protection and sanitization measures in place, to ensure that we could safely resume full-capacity operations when the time came.

28 Apr 2020

Namdock Shipbuilders Help Local Hospital Get Ship-shape

Members of Namdock’s technical and fabrication teams working to refurbish hospital beds for Walvis Bay’s state hospital (Photo: Namdock)

Namibian ship repair company Namdock, situated in Walvis Bay on the west coast of Africa, has utilized its fabrication expertise to provide assistance to the Walvis Bay state hospital in its fight against COVID-19 by helping with the maintenance and repair of hospital beds, trollies and bedside cupboards.“While national infection rates and fatalities are currently low, COVID-19 has the potential to trigger a major health crisis in Namibia. We have already seen the global impact of the virus, and have taken the approach that ‘forewarned is forearmed’.

08 Nov 2019

Namdock wins Angolan Navy Maintenance Contract

Photo: Namdock

In September 2019, in a milestone agreement, Namdock concluded a contract to maintain and repair the vessels of the Marinha de Guerra Angolana (MGA), the Angolan Navy.According to Namdock’s Commercial and Operations Manager, Willie Esterhuyse, although the contract has been concluded, the exact date when the vessels will be arriving in Walvis Bay has not been finalized, it is anticipated that this will be early in 2020.In terms of this agreement, Namdock will take two Angolan Navy vessels into its dry docks initially.

28 Jul 2019

Sea Shepherd, Namibia Fight Fisheries Crime

The Namibian Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) compliance officials and Sea Shepherd, onboard the Ocean Warrior, have jointly carried out successful surveillance activities in Namibia`s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), effectively causing illegal factory trawlers to abandon the Skeleton Coast.The main objective of these joint patrols was to tackle Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing in Namibian waters. These initiatives assisted the MFMR and other Namibian law enforcement agencies to force illegal and foreign industrial factory trawlers out of the Namibian EEZ suspected to have targeted horse mackerel stocks through IUU activities.Large foreign industrial factory trawlers – former Soviet Union made trawlers -  have been ‘border hopping`…

20 May 2019

Debmarine to Build $468mln New Vessel

Namibia marine diamond mining company, Debmarine Namibia announced that its Board of Directors have approved the construction of the world’s first ever custom-built diamond recovery vessel.The new vessel is expected to cost US$468 million and represents the largest ever single investment in the marine diamond industry, said a press release from the marine diamond exploration 50/50 joint venture between the Government of the Republic of Namibia and De Beers Group.The ship will become the seventh vessel in the Debmarine Namibia fleet and is scheduled to commence operations in 2022. On completion, the vessel is expected to add 500,000 carats annually to Debmarine Namibia’s production…

22 Aug 2018

New Gensets for De Beers’ Diamond Mining Vessel

Mining vessel Debmar Pacific departing from Cape Town, outfitted with new Wärtsilä gensets (Photo: Wärtsilä)

Wärtsilä and De Beers Marine have signed an agreement for the replacement of generating sets aboard De Beers’ diamond mining ship Debmar Pacific. The vessel, originally built in the 1970s, will be outfitted with new Wärtsilä gensets to extend its lifetime and improve reliability.Debmar Pacific is engaged in diamond mining operations off the coast of Namibia. With modern gensets, the lifetime of the vessel is extended and its specific fuel oil consumption (SFOC) is reduced. In addition…

21 Nov 2017

Kleven: MoU to Build Diamond Mining Ship

(Image: Marin Teknikk)

Kleven signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Namibian offshore diamond mining company De Beers Marine Namibia for the building of an offshore vessel purpose-designed to support seabed mining operations. Designed by Marin Teknikk of Norway, the 176m ship will be the longest vessel to date to be built at the Kleven yard in Ulsteinvik, Norway. The MoU follows Kleven's June 2016 delivery of SS Nujoma to De Beers Marine Namibia. "With unrivalled sample quality and a fuel consumption 30 percent lower than expected, the SS Nujoma has been a success story for us from the start.

21 Jun 2016

Small Vessel Tracking Tested in South Africa

Photo: exactEarth

exactEarth Europe Limited, a UK subsidiary of exactEarth Ltd, a provider of Satellite AIS data services, recently concluded the main part of its ‘South Africa Safety Initiative for Small Vessels’ (OASIS) project – a small vessel tracking trial with the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), part-funded by the UK Space Agency (UKSA) under its ‘International Partnership Space Program’ (IPSP). A key aspect of SAMSA's mandate is to ensure safety of life at sea, including small vessels in the fisheries, leisure marine and workboat sectors.

28 Mar 2015

Is China Building a Naval Base in Africa?

Recently, The Namibian reported the existence of a "confidential letter from Namibia's ambassador to China, Ringo Abed, to Namibia's foreign minister stating that 'a Chinese delegation will visit Namibia ... for discussions ... The reports say that Beijing has told Namibian diplomats that a "Chinese naval presence will deter any would-be illegal trawlers and smugglers.”  China's Indian Ocean-based "string of pearls" naval base strategy to protect the country's 21st Century vision of a "maritime silk road" looks like it may now extend all the way to the South Atlantic. China’s annual trade with Africa soared 11-fold in the decade to 2013, exceeding $200 billion, and the country’s companies have invested on the continent.

28 Aug 2014

Chariot Oil & Gas Get Licences for 3 Blocks in Namibia

Namibian Portfolio. In an update it informed about its Namibian portfolio, its repositioning in the region and forward work programmes across these licences. These steps improve Chariot's negotiating position in partnering discussions and provide further commercial optionality. The move also aligns this part of Chariot's portfolio with its strategy of being a fast follower and managing risk whilst retaining significant equity and acreage positions. In line with this strategy, Chariot will aim to proceed towards the drilling phase across its Namibian acreage following appropriate geological and financial de-risking. Within the Central blocks…

23 Sep 2013

Namibian Government Halts Seabed Mining

The Australian-based Deep Sea Mining Campaign congratulated the Namibian Governments on its decision to place a moratorium on seabed mining. “The Deep Sea Mining campaign applauds the Namibian government’s decision to impose a moratorium for 18 months on marine phosphate mining,” said Natalie Lowrey, communications coordinator for the Deep Sea mining campaign. In announcing the decision, the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, the Hon. Bernhard Esau, stressed that seabed mining cannot happen if there is not solid proof that it will not have negative impacts on the environment. “Namibia has shown wisdom in being cautious. This very caution is exactly how sustainability is achieved.

14 Feb 2013

Rapp Hydema Hauls in the Research Vessel Market

Johann Sigurjonsson and Scott Atkinson of Rapp Hydema receiving award at OTC

Rapp Hydema has been supplying deck machinery to research vessels since 1977, but this global market recently became especially significant for the group. In 2002, in what would be a watershed project, Rapp Hydema was chosen to outfit the NOAA Fishery Survey Vessel (FSV) Oscar Dyson class of vessels. The first four ships in the class were being constructed at VT Halter Marine Shipyard. “That NOAA research vessel contract provided us with excellent exposure,” said Johann Sigurjonsson, President of Rapp Hydema U.S.

13 Aug 2012

Cableship Blaze off Skeleton Coast Forces Abandon Ship

Cableship 'Chamarel': Photo credit France Telecom-Orange

France Telecom-Orange announce abandonment of its cable ship 'Chamarel' off the coast of Namibia. A fire broke out on the cableship Chamarel while returning from a repair operation on the Sat3-Safe cable off the coast of Namibia in the Atlantic Ocean. Despite the crew's efforts to control the fire, the decision was made to abandon the ship and all 56 crew members were safely recovered by a Namibian fishing vessel without injury or incident. They are currently located at the Namibian port, Walvis Bay and will be repatriated in the coming days.

22 May 2012

Offshore Namibia's First Drill – Oil Not Found

The share price of African focused oil and gas exploration company, Chariot this week took a major tumble after the explorer announced that it had found no oil off the Namibian coast, according to an All Africa news report. Chariot's share price fell on Monday to a yearly low of 75 pounds upon confirmation that no commercial hydrocarbons were found in the Tapir South exploration well in Northern Block 1811A and the well will be plugged and abandoned. The first well of Chariot's four to five well drill programme, Tapir South was rated as having a 25% chance of success and was targeting resource potential of some 604 million barrels of oil.

14 May 2012

Liftboat Drills Deep off Namibia on the African Coast

Chariot Oil & Gas Limited confirms that the Tapir South (1811/5-1) exploration well in Northern Block 1811A in the Namibe basin offshore Namibia has reached a total depth of 4,879 metres TVDss. The well was drilled by the Mærsk Deliverer semi-submersible drillship in 2,134 metres of water and operated by Chariot's wholly owned Namibian subsidiary, Enigma Oil & Gas (Pty) Limited. Preliminary logging results indicate that, although excellent reservoirs were penetrated, no commercial hydrocarbons were found and the well will be plugged and abandoned. The well encountered 173 metres of net reservoir sand of Cretaceous age, including two zones in excess of 30 metres with average porosities of 24% and evidence of good permeabilities.

16 Sep 2011

Rapp Hydema Wins Winch Contract for Fishery Survey Vessel

Rapp Hydema has closed a major contract with STX Finland Oy Shipyard related to a new research vessel. The Namibian Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources selected STX Finland Oy to build new hull, No. 1378, which will undertake fishery survey missions. Distinctive for recent orders is an admixture of both electric and hydraulic machinery. Hydraulically-powered machinery includes the Rapp trawl winches. Also, a double net-drum is to be utilized for net storage, and Rapp is also providing a Gilson winch, as well as a Research/Sounder Winch. A Rapp anchor winch with two capstans is also to be provided, as well as two separate hydraulic power packs for the anchor/capstans package and the fishing winches.The trawl winches are to be controlled by a PTS Pentagon Cbus F system…

08 Sep 2011

Metso Supplying Automation System for Fisheries Research Vessel

Fisheries Research Vessel

Metso has received an order for a Metso DNA automation system to a fisheries research vessel. The Fisheries Research Vessel is contracted at STX Finland Oy, Rauma shipyard, by the Namibian Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources. The vessel is 65m long with a beam of 14m. It is designed with special care about laboratory equipment, propulsion and power generating systems. High serviceability and low maintenance costs has got special attention. The vessel's task will include monitoring of fish stock, as well as sorting, processing, freezing and storage of fish.

20 May 2011

Raytheon Anschütz IBS for Namibian Research Vessel

STX Europe, available for download in the media center of the STX Europe website.

The German navigation system supplier Raytheon Anschütz was recently awarded a contract for the delivery of an integrated bridge and navigation system for a Fisheries Research Vessel, newbuilding 1378 at STX Finland. The 62 meter long vessel is being built at STX Finland Rauma shipyard and will be owned by the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources of the Republic of Namibia. STX Finland has again selected Raytheon Anschütz to deliver the integrated bridge and navigation system…

23 May 2011

Raytheon Anschütz wins IBS for Namibian Research Vessel

The German navigation system supplier Raytheon Anschütz was recently awarded a contract for the delivery of an integrated bridge and navigation system for a Fisheries Research Vessel, newbuilding 1378 at STX Finland. STX Finland has again selected Raytheon Anschütz to deliver the integrated bridge and navigation system, as well as the Dynamic Positioning System (DP) and a radio station according to GMDSS A3 for this advanced Fisheries Research Vessel. The 62 meter long vessel is being built at STX Finland Rauma shipyard and will be owned by the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources of the Republic of Namibia. The new vessel will be equipped with two Radar and two ECDIS bridge workstations as well as with a Conning workstation for the navigation bridge…

25 Aug 2011

FRV Construction Starts in Rauma Shipyard

On 25 August 2011 STX Finland Oy's Rauma Shipyard started the production of an innovative fisheries reseach vessel ordered by the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources of the Republic of Namibia. NB 1378 will be delivered during the summer of 2012. The vessel will be approximately 62 mlong and give some 250 man-years of labour to the shipyard. The production start-up was attended by representatives of the Republic of Namibia, STX Finland Oy and classification society Bureau Veritas. The ship is a versatile and modern research vessel designed for Namibian fisheries research, and it meets the latest standardised performance criteria. Ensuring that the vessel meets these criteria requires careful design of the research systems, propulsion and power generation system.