18 months after the contract was signed and work began, Alewijnse has said goodbye to the latest addition to De Beers’ fleet of diamond recovery vessels.
The 177-metre, $470m AMV (Additional Mining Vessel) 3 is the largest and most sophisticated of its kind in the world.
18 months after the contract was signed and work began, Alewijnse has said goodbye to the latest addition to De Beers’ fleet of diamond recovery vessels, the 177-metre, $470m AMV (Additional Mining Vessel) 3, the largest and most sophisticated of its kind in the world. Alewijnse was contracted by Damen Shipyards Mangalia to deliver the entire onboard electrical installation and at the height of the project had 325 personnel working on board for the installation of the systems with a total of 490 kilometres of cables being pulled.
Sophisticated electrical systems
To achieve its goals the AMV3 has a large number of sophisticated systems requiring electrical power and control and monitoring. These include a 300-tonne crawler machine with a mechanical arm for dredging material from the sea floor at depths of up to 130m. There is also a large onboard processing plant that sifts the dredged gravel on board the ship, removing the diamonds and sealing them in metal canisters. Another large and complex system is the seven thruster, DP2 dynamic positioning system that is powered by six generators of 3,230 ekW each.
First time at Damen Shipyards Mangalia
“Despite all the challenges presented by the pandemic we played our part in ensuring that the vessel was delivered on time,” said Alewijnse project manager Cătălin Androne. “It was our first time at Damen Shipyards Mangalia. The cooperation was excellent, and our own support departments worked tirelessly to make sure that materials and resources reached us on time. We are very proud of what we have achieved and once again Alewijnse has demonstrated its ability to handle the most complex vessels afloat today, under the most challenging circumstances.”
Flagship of De Beers Marine Namibia (Pty) Ltd.
The AMV3 will spend the next few months in Cape Town, South Africa, having its mission equipment installed before beginning operations off the coast of Namibia in 2022 as the flagship of its owner and operator De Beers Marine Namibia (Pty) Ltd.
 3, the largest and most sophisticated of its kind in the world. Alewijnse was contracted by Damen Shipyards Mangalia to deliver the entire onboard electrical installation and at the height of the project had 325 personnel working on board for the installation of the systems with a total of 490 kilometres of cables being pulled.){kind=link}