Minerals Report - International Seabed Authority

In accordance with De Beers’ overall asset management
philosophy, continuous productivity improvement is an important focus
of teams involved in offshore operations. In addition to research and
development to enhance the actual performance of mining tools, a
stringent approach to asset management has been specifically developed
for the marine operations. The aim of this programme is to maximise time
utilised in physically mining. The objective is to safely operate the mining
systems in the operational areas for periods of two years (or more)
between downtime for scheduled in-port maintenance, with refuelling
performed at sea to further reduce time off station. Currently, the Debmar
Pacific with 1027 days holds the record for a vessel remaining at sea.
Engineering availability for the drill ship fleet was 93% for 1999, having
been maintained at 88% in the two preceding years. Approximately 78 to
79% of time at sea is spent with the mining tool engaged in full operational
mining mode. This high performance level has been achieved through the
focused application of engineering expertise to devise effective planned
maintenance. Innovation during introduction of successive drill ships has
also enhanced performance by enabling safe mining operation in swells of
around 6 m (a reasonably common occurrence on this high-energy coast)
in order to minimise downtime due to adverse weather. The NOSA Sea
Safe audit team rates the entire DBM fleet of vessels annually, and all
vessels have been awarded the top 5 star rating.
Approximately 120 Namibians are currently employed by DBM.
Most of these work at sea on the production vessels. Given the size and
power consumption of the vessels used for deep-water mining, the
training period for deck and engineering officers is extensive. DBM
vessels are flagged in South Africa and they are operated according to the
legal requirements of the Department of Transport. In addition to the
course work involved, it takes approximately 11 years for a person leaving
school to qualify for a Master’s certificate. DBM has numerous capacity
building initiatives underway in Namibia. These include programmes to
improve maths and science education at school level to produce a larger
talent pool for development. This is one of a number of strategies aligned
to the company’s long-term outlook for the offshore mining industry in
Namibia.
DBM is also actively involved in promoting technical development
in the natural sciences to produce students with appropriate qualifications
to become involved in Engineering, Mineral resource management and
INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY 592