ABB to Power the World’s Largest Diamond Recovery Vessel for De Beers

ABB wins contract from Damen Shipyards Group to deliver an advanced power system for the world’s first custom-built diamond recovery vessel

ABB will supply an integrated power system package that will ensure the world’s largest and most technologically advanced diamond recovery vessel meets exceptional safety, efficiency and availability requirements. The vessel is being built by Damen at Damen Shipyards Mangalia on the Black Sea in Romania. Financial details of the order were not disclosed.

With a total cost of $468 million, the vessel is the largest single investment ever made in the marine diamond industry. It deploys advanced subsea crawling – a technique for recovering diamonds from the seabed. The newbuild will be delivered to Debmarine Namibia, a joint venture between the Government of the Republic of Namibia and De Beers Group in 2022. De Beers Group is the world’s leading diamond company, with unrivalled expertise in the exploration, mining and marketing of rough diamonds, driving it forward since 1888.