Minerals Report - International Seabed Authority

design and review work, and in that way contribute to their own scientific
research. He said that this approach allows De Beers to combine research
expertise. As an example, Dr. Corbett said that De Beers has developed
some very innovative approaches to the analysis of video transects using
Jago footage with the University of the Western Cape.
Dr. Corbett said that De Beers is linked to the Namibian Ministry of
Fisheries and Marine Resources and the South African Marine and Coastal
Management Department. He also said that De Beers works with the
University of the Western Cape, the University of Namibia, the University
of Cape Town, and the Cape Technocon. He described as most important
De Beers’ alliance with the Max Plank Institute in Germany, in particular
with the team led by Hans Fricher who operates the Jago submersible.
With regard to the organizational base of De Beers Marine, Dr.
Corbett said that it covers a very large area of the country – some six to
seven hundred kilometres between Cape Town and Oranjemunt. He said
that it includes offices in Namibia, Walvis Bay and Windhoek, store
facilities in Port Nolloth in a small town called Darling to the North of
Cape Town and in Cape Town itself, Suldana Bay where there is a port
that we operate from occasionally, and the port of Cape Town where De
Beers’ principal office is located. Dr. Corbett said that the adoption of ISO
14001 by De Beers has created responsibility and accountability
throughout the organization, and that a core team for environmental
management has been established. He said that the team consists of a
number of technical experts led by Dr. Patty Wichens who is a marine
biologist. He said that De Beers also has a team that spans the entire
breadth of its operations, engineering, commerce, stores and logistics, and
that this group is supported by a team of environmental researchers. He
pointed out that this team is net worked throughout the organization by a
group of environmental monitors. He said that the environmental
monitors are placed on vessels and onshore, and play a key
communicational role throughout the entire organization. He also said
that this arrangement has proved to be extremely important in terms of
making this process work.
Implementation and Operation
Dr. Corbett said that training and awareness building have been
the keys to the success of the environmental management system
developed by De Beers. He said that as part of the system, there is a
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