Maritime Review Mini Mag | Offshore exploration and mining

MINI MAG

2021 SHIPPING FISHING OIL & GAS ENGINEERING SHIP SUPPLY PORTS

AFRICA

LOCAL CONTENT IMPROVING CAPACITY AND SKILLS

INFRASTRUCTURE

PORT AND SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE

SEISMIC SHIFT SHELL MEETS RESISTANCE

ONBOARD

BIGGEST DIAMONG MINING VESSEL

OFFSHORE MINING & EXPLORATION

MARITIME REVIEW AFRICA MANAGING EDITOR: Colleen Jacka editor@maritimesa.co.za ADMIN & ACCOUNTS: Lesley Jacka admin@maritimesa.co.za ADVERTISING SALES: INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL admin@maritimesa.co.za 021 914 1157 021 914 3742

OFFICE: 021 914 1157 021 914 3742 POSTAL ADDRESS: PO Box 3842 Durbanville 7551

THEME | Offshore mining and exploration

CONTENTS INFRASTRUCTURE SALDANHA IDZ PROGRESS

COPYRIGHT: No content published in Maritime Review Africa may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the editor. Inclusion of any products in features or any product news does not indicate their endorsement by the publishers or staff.

Opinions expressed in the editorial are not necessarily those of the publishers, editors or staff of the magazine.

Every effort is made to check the content for errors, omissions or inaccuracies, but the authors, publishers and contributors connected with the magazine will not be held liable for any of these or for consequences arising from them.

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Reflecting on their first seven years, Kaashifa Beukes, CEO of the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone says progress to develop the SBIDZ has been uneven and they have had to adjust their targets downwards accordingly.

OFFSHORE SUPPLY BASES

08

An increase in offshore investments in emerging economies is one of the primary driving factors of offshore support vessels supply base market.

Companies in Liberia, Ghana and other African nations have increased the offshore expenditure to enhance their operational footprint.

UPSTREAM AFRICA A SEISMIC SHIFT

10

The nation-wide outcry from environmentalist groups and concerned citizens in South Africa against planned seismic surveying off the Wild Coast highlights the dichotomy the country faces in the pursuit of economic development and job creation by promoting the offshore oil and gas sector. The sector was one of the

Published by More Maximum Media

2021 SHIPPING FISHING OIL & GAS ENGINEERING

AFRICA

SHIP SUPPLY PORTS

While the offshore Oil and Gas and marine mining sectors hold immense potential for developing the African continent’s economic renewal, this does not come without a plethora of challenges.

From environmental resistance to the lack of skills and poor infrastructure ahead of demand - there is much to contend with to ensure that Africa’s resources benefit African development. We explore some of these topics in this issue.

strategic pillars for proposed development within Operation Phakisa and underpins significant development taking place.

LOCALISATION LOCAL CONTENT STRATEGY

18

Adrian Strydom focuses on localisation in terms of capacity building in; skills, supply chain innovation, supplier development and partnerships.

INFRASTRUCTURE

PORT AND SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE

SEISMIC SHIFT SHELL MEETS RESISTANCE

ONBOARD

BIGGEST DIAMONG MINING VESSEL

OFFSHORE MINING & EXPLORATION

QUAY QUOTES on our first seven years, I would say progress to develop 04 |“Reflecting the SBIDZ has been uneven and we have had to adjust our targets

downwards accordingly: That only one of the three projects for Saldanha from Operation Phakisa’s Oceans Economy process was finished shook our business trajectory early on.” Kaashifah Beukes, CEO of Saldanha Bay IDZ.

precious biodiverse ecosystems, but it will also destroy the livelihoods of local communities, all in the name of profit.” Happy Khambule, Senior Climate and Energy Campaign Manager for Greenpeace Africa.

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The new Debmarine Namibia’s diamond mining vessel has been prominent in the Port of Cape Town for some time and even hosted an open day for interested parties to gain insight about the workings of such a mammoth ship.

PROVIDING SUPPORT

IMPROVING CAPACITY AND SKILLS

decision to allow Shell to continue with its plans to destroy the 10 |“The Wild Coast is very disappointing. Not only will the blasting destroy

DIAMOND MINING ON BOARD

LOCAL CONTENT

relation to the Shell Seismic Survey, due processes were followed 14 |“Inincluding an environmental impact assessment in 2013 culminating

in the approval of the Environmental Management Programme (EMPr) in 2014.

An independent audit was also carried out in 2020 to test the efficacy of the mitigation measures in the 2014 EMPr, this audit report was shared with the registered interested and affected parties and no objections were received.”

Minister Gwede Mantashe.

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AMSOL provides a safe and specialised offshore marine logistics & supply solution with two modern supply launches from the Port Nolloth Base including a DPII AHTSV from Lüderitz, Namibia to the World’s largest offshore diamond mining fleet of DeBeers & Debmarine.

Africa and Africa will be more and more energy hungry as in18 |“South dustrialisation increases. Energy security is an important requirement for sustainable industry growth.” Adrian Strydom, SAOGA.

27

The maritime community will surely understand the concept of being keelhauled and we have reinstated the practice, which was allegedly instituted by the British Navy as a way of “severely rebuking a subordinate”.

But at the same time we will also applaud those individuals and companies in recognition of significant achievements.

20

12

Applaud [BRAVO ZULU]

Keelhauled

The South African Oil and Gas Alliance (SAOGA) for their efforts to remain relevant and available as an advocacy group to their membership - especially without government funding and the need to boost revenue.

Minister Gwede Mantashe for his rather obscure rant likening the protests against seismic surveying to concern masquerading as Apartheid and Colonial sentiments.

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MINI MAG | 2021

COVER STORY

MINI MAG

EDITORIAL COMMENT

By Colleen Jacka

There was significant public outcry that ensued as the Amazon Warrior sailed into South African waters to undertake seismic surveying on behalf of their client Shell.

This is certainly not the first seismic survey to be completed off the coast and - if the country aims to live up to the expectations of Operation Phakisa’s oil and gas aspirations it is unlikely to be the last blast.

t

The prospects of establishing a growing offshore oil and gas sector has long been an ambition that dates beyond the launch of Operation Phakisa and has its roots in initiatives such as the Cape Oil and Gas Initiative (COGSI) - an organisation that later evolved into the South African Oil and Gas Alliance (SAOGA).

While the focus of many of the interventions has been on creating an internationally-benchmarked support sector - the benefits to this sector of an exploration and production sector on its doorstep is obvious.

Managed correctly and free of corruption, an oil and gas producing country can position itself for economic growth and development even within a world where talks of energy transition are becoming more prominent.

Like it or not, the world’s reliance on fossil fuels for a wide variety of items means that exploration and production will continue to be relevant for some time.

What was interesting, however, was that both those for and against the seismic surveying off South Africa’s Wild Coast wagged a finger towards colonialism. Minister Gwede Mantashe described the protests as special type of Apartheid and colonialism masquerading as environmental protection. On the other side, Greenpeace used the hashtag #SameColonisersDifferentShip to suggest that the multinational oil company was simply embarking on renewed colonisation of South Africa’s resources.

The irony, however, is that our modern human existence is literally brimming over with products that include petroleum. From household appliances to medical equipment and drugs as well as furniture, toys, nail polish and even the surfboards that our ocean lovers use – our daily lives are impacted by the availability of this fossil fuel.

So, in reality – we have to look at our own consumption and consumerism before we start waving placards on the beach front. Shell and the likes are simply feeding our own retail therapy - think of that when you go Christmas shopping this year.

Colleen Jacka, editor editor@maritimesa.co.za @GeminiJourno

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Maritime Review Africa

Offshore Mining and Exploration | 2021

SETTING A COURSE FO THE O&G SE

OIL &

EDITORIAL COMMENT

G

S A COMMENT

OR ECTOR

By Colleen Jacka

Maritime Review Africa

Offshore Mining and Exploration | 2021

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INFRASTRUCTURE

Port and supply infrastructure

If you’ve been to Saldanha, you’d know that it has something to offer everyone, from laid-back scenic observers to holidaymakers, avid thrill seekers, and families. It’s also home to the deepest and largest natural port in the southern hemisphere and is geographically well-positioned to service local and international markets.

By Kaashifa Beukes, CEO of the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone

T

The rewa establishi offshore o

he Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (SBIDZ) exists to develop the upstream oil and gas marine fabrication and repair, and logistics sectors. With Saldanha Bay demarcated as the first Freeport in South Africa, allowing eligible firms dutyfree and VAT-free entry of foreign goods intended for re-export, the SBIDZ is a giant incubator for economic activity.

The SBIDZ also focuses on community skills development and training; provides an encouraging space for small, medium, and micro enterprises to thrive, and has stewarded the creation of the Saldanha Bay Innovation Campus - a coalition for research, development and investment into what comes next for maritime and energy in an increasingly competitive and decarbonising world.

Challenges Reflecting on our first seven years, I would say progress to develop the SBIDZ has Reflecting on our been uneven and we have had to first seven years, I would adjust our targets downwards accordsay progress to develop the ingly: That only one of the three SBIDZ has been uneven and we projects for Saldanha from Operhave had to adjust our targets ation Phakisa’s Oceans Economy downwards accordingly: That process was finished shook our only one of the three projects for business trajectory early on. Other shocks for the industry and world Saldanha from Operation Phakisa’s economy included the oil price Oceans Economy process was boom and bust of 2015. In addition, finished shook our business the drought and electricity shortages trajectory early on. also affected business and consumer

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Maritime Review Africa

Offshore Mining and Exploration | 2021

Port and supply infrastructure

INFRASTRUCTURE

ards and challenges of ing South Africa’s first oil and gas hub

Maritime Review Africa

Offshore Mining and Exploration | 2021

05

INFRASTRUCTURE

Port and supply infrastructure

confidence nationally.

Geopolitics and waves of nationalistic fervour also shook developing markets and economies, and South Africa was not immune. The pandemic, and its continued risks to global public health, movement, trade and education, will also continue to influence spending patterns.

What these point to is that the SBIDZ, like all SEZs across the world, operates within the national and international investment climate. We may be a specially designated area - with benefits to attract and promote economic development and job creation, but we are not in a bubble, immune to our environment - and more so because we are a state-owned company that operates across the three spheres of government, with one foot in the private sector and the other in government.

For Saldanha Bay, with its greenfield port hinterland, becoming operational has required time, investment, infrastructure, integrated planning as well as a dedicated board and team to drive a new way of working with diverse partners and stakeholders.

Rewards With deep systemic unemployment, poverty and inequality still burning issues in our country, and the SEZs remaining a critical instrument to advance government’s strategic objective of industrialisation, regional development, export promotion and job creation - the rewards of the journey so far centre around the impact we have made in people’s lives and businesses.

Our range of facilities and services in the zone addresses the fundamental need of access and ease of doing busiOur Freeport designation across 70% of our land means that firms ness in a practical way who bring in goods for their where it counts:

70%

manufacturing processes don’t have to pay the upfront VAT if they are exporting the end product.

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Maritime Review Africa

Offshore Mining and Exploration | 2021

Our Freeport

designation across 70% of our land means that firms who bring in

goods for their manufacturing processes don’t have to pay the upfront VAT if they are exporting the end product.

We have removed a key barrier to entry for established and emerging manufacturers into Africa and beyond.

Our land is largely serviced and has

environmental authorisations in place on a number of listed activities, shortening the time from speculative interest to first spade in the ground.

We have access to the SEZ Fund,

a dtic administered fund targeted for important bulk infrastructure and tenant top structures. This is a critical value-add to the revamped SEZ programme for investors. For our first tenant, West Coast Corrosion Protection, a small local company from Saldanha, having access to the SEZ Fund meant they could focus on their business whilst we built their facility – which they now operate in as their new Head Quarters!

We have Zone Labour Charters with

COSATU, NUMSA and NUM, allowing a platform for employers and employees to chart equitable zone labour relations.

We have dedicated resources to

facilitate skill, enterprise and contractor development, and an infrastructure procurement and oversight model designed to promote equitable, transparent local participation. Since 2013 we have trained over 2,450 people and used our infrastructure programme to realise over R200m value in the local construction industry.

We also run a free, wi-fi enabled shared office space for SMEs, fulfilling a gap in the SME ecosystem. SMEs have access to the world and are using the facility to take courses, attend conferences, and hold meetings with clients and suppliers.

Lastly, for the 2020-21 financial year,

we contributed R1,11 billion to South Africa’s GDP, R893m to the Western Cape GGP and sustained 1,644 jobs

Port and supply infrastructure

INFRASTRUCTURE

We have to approach the SBIDZ, our ports, our manufacturing, logistics and mining sectors as assets in our economic toolkit that must be allowed to adapt and evolve.

throughout the Western Cape – of which 745 were directly due to the activities of the SBIDZ during a tough year – and sustained 1,960 jobs throughout South Africa.

Outlook The pandemic has changed the way we live and spend in the economy and how we think about and treat our environment.

The importance of digital technologies, an accelerated decarbonisation agenda and impatience to equitable participation in the economy are key forces for change in our societies and economies.

The SBIDZ is no different from other companies around the world dealing with these mega forces. The SBIDZ’s original market focus was as a service hub for offshore Exploration & Production (E&P) vessels (such as oil rigs). This market has changed.

This is obvious in the investments deferred from new offshore oil wells into gas, offshore wind and onshore renewable energy alternatives.

The take-up of this transition in Africa attracts much debate: being the least carbon contributor yet suffering the most energy poverty.

So there will still be a need for offshore hydrocarbons to play a role in a just energy transition, and with that a value chain of needs and a lifecycle orientation as well: the decommissioning, recycling and retrofitting of vessels and equipment is a well-established market on its own in Europe. And importantly, it’s where the financing priority is right now.

To beard questions of longevity though, South Africa shouldn’t fall into the trap that it’s a static market or even a one-dimensional one: SEZs aren’t just industrial estates and oil and coal has an end date.

It’s not as near as in some other countries because we must have a just energy transition. So we have to approach the SBIDZ, our ports, our manufacturing, logistics and mining sectors as assets in our economic toolkit that must be allowed to adapt and evolve.

The SBIDZ is in an evolution to remain relevant to its purpose, the maritime and energy markets and the opportunities it sees over the coming years.

Hopefully, policy support, structural reforms and implementation keeps apace or, at the least, does not impede what is meant to be a dynamic and agile programme in our policy toolkits.

Maritime Review Africa

Offshore Mining and Exploration | 2021

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INFRASTRUCTURE

Port and supply infrastructure

OSBs in AFRICA ASCO, will play a role in the development of Senegal’s offshore energy industry following a contract award by Senegal Supply Base (SSB). SSB, which is owned by a consortium of national businesses known as COSENI, has contracted ASCO as the sole provider of quayside management for all offshore activity via the Port of Dakar, for an initial term of three years.

The company offers offshore logistics services to the West-African Offshore / Oil & Gas industry both to permanent clients and on a project basis. Supported by its Oil & Gas / Project division in the Netherlands, Supermaritime Ghana also provides yard management and mobilisation/ demobilisation management services in the ports of Tema and Takoradi.

Saldehco is a privately owned South African company that was established as a special purpose vehicle to respond to a Transnet tender. The project looks to operate an offshore supply base in the port of Saldanha Bay on a dedicated quay, as well as providing specialist and generalist services for both the oil and gas industry and the marine industry. They will build infrastructure that will allow the base to provide services to the global economy.

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Maritime Review Africa

Offshore Mining and Exploration | 2021

Elschon provides a specialised supply base management system that covers heavy-lifting, loading and unloading of vessels, warehouse facilities, workshop facility and service centre facilities.

LADOL provides a one-stop-shop for multinational industrial and oil and gas companies operating in West Africa.

ALSL provides a complete range of supply base services including storage yard and warehouse facilities, dangerous goods storage, engineering support, as well as the provision of transport and lifting equipment in Mombasa, Kenya. The facility in Mombasa is an Export Processing Zone having a total area of 20,000 m² including its warehouse capacity. The facility has already been successfully used by major oil and gas exploration companies including Woodside Energy, Weatherford, Upstream Petroleum Services and others.

Port and supply infrastructure

INFRASTRUCTURE

One of the key factors driving the growth of this market is raising offshore investment in emerging economies such as Congo, Ghana, and Senegal in Africa and also in south-east Asian countries.

$6100m Analysts estimated that OSB’s in the Middle East and Africa could generate revenues worth USD 6100 million by the end of the forecast period.

The oil and gas industry is growing and this has led to the establishment of efficient offshore support vessels supply bases. OSB’s provide end to end logistic and warehousing support for oil and gas exploration that includes warm or cold stacking locations, value-added services for floating equipment, storage and others.

Owing to the rising innovations in oil and gas industry the players in offshore support vessels supply base market are introducing functions that strengthen the services.

Increasing service capacity to provide service to large fleets, field standby vessels and safeguard vessels among others.

OFFSHORE

SUPPLY

BASES An increase in offshore investments in emerging economies is one of the primary driving factors of offshore support vessels supply base market. Companies in Liberia, Ghana and other African nations have increased the offshore expenditure to enhance their operational footprint.

SOURCE: Global Offshore Support Vessels Supply Base (OSB) Market Revenue Projected Around USD 6400 Million by 2026 (Facts & Figures)

The research study provides a critical assessment of the Offshore Support Vessels Supply Base (OSB) industry by logically segmenting the market on the basis of product type, application and regions. Based on the past, present, and future trends, all the segments were analyzed from the bottom up, and the market sizes have been estimated from 2020 to 2026. The regional segmentation of the Offshore Support Vessels Supply Base (OSB) industry includes the holistic bifurcation of all the five major continents including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.

OFFSHORE SUPPORT VESSELS SUPPLY BASE (OSB): GLOBAL & REGIONAL MARKET SIZE, BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE, COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE, INDUSTRY ANALYSIS, STATISTICAL RESEARCH, HISTORICAL TRENDS AND FORECASTS, 2016 – 2026 SAMPLE

This research report, focused on the Offshore Support Vessels Supply Base (OSB) business, describes the concepts, types, applications, end-users, key players, and stakeholders in the OSB market comprehensively. Assessment of the current and historical business situation (2016-2020) is indicated, conflated with competitive landscape and consumer patterns, benefits and drawbacks, industry trends, and statistical predictions (2021-2026).

Regional OSB industry characteristics and macroeconomic policies, industrial policies have also been included.

The decrease in oil prices has affected the revenues of companies operating in the offshore drilling industry. As a result of lower crude oil prices, the offshore support vessels supply base market is expected experience slow down over the timespan.

Maritime Review Africa

Offshore Mining and Exploration | 2021

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UPSTREAM AFRICA

Developments and Situational Review

A seismic shift The nation-wide outcry from environmentalist groups and concerned citizens in South Africa against planned seismic surveying off the Wild Coast highlights the dichotomy the country faces in the pursuit of economic development and job creation by promoting the offshore oil and gas sector. The sector was one of the strategic pillars for proposed development within Operation Phakisa and underpins significant development taking place within the Port of Saldanha Bay to create an Industrial Development Zone aimed specifically at servicing this sector.

D

espite the potential economic benefits associated with oil or gas discoveries for a country, South African citizens came out in their droves to protest the arrival of the Shearwater Geoservices’ survey vessel, the Panama-flagged, Amazon Warrior in the country’s waters – and at the end of November four environmental and human rights organisations (Border Deep Sea Angling Association, Kei Mouth Ski Boat Club, Natural Justice and Greenpeace Africa) filed an unsuccessful interdict against Shell to prevent seismic testing along the Wild Coast.

Acting Justice Govindjee concluded that the applicants had failed to show that there was a reasonable apprehension of irreparable harm and he dismissed the application with costs.

“The decision to allow Shell to continue with its plans to destroy the Wild Coast is very disappointing. Not only will the blasting destroy precious biodiverse ecosystems, but it will also destroy the livelihoods of local communities, all in the name of profit,” said Happy Khambule,

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Maritime Review Africa

Offshore Mining and Exploration | 2021

Senior Climate and Energy Campaign Manager for Greenpeace Africa who says that the organisation intends to continue to support nation-wide resistance against the oil major.

The unsuccessful court action has certainly not deterred locals from expressing their outrage and creating Facebook groups aimed at fostering support towards stopping the planned exploration and eventual actual drilling operations. Further legal action is being considered by these groups.

The vessel found itself surrounded by small craft deployed by citizens and Greenpeace off the coast of South Africa in an attempt to thwart the start of the survey. Reports indicated that the

UPSTREAM AFRICA

VESSEL INFO

Developments and Situational Awareness

CLASSIFICATION

ENDURANCE AT SEA 120 DAYS

DNV | POLAR CLASS 7 | SPS | RPS(+)

PROPULSION Dual Shaftline Diesel/Electric

LENGTH

BREADTH

126m

32m

DRAFT 7m

COMMUNICATIONS DUAL VSAT - 4 MB BW

SPREAD TOWED

FUEL TYPE MGO GROSS TONNAGE 21,195

MAX. TRANSIT SPEED 17 KNOTS

Qmarine STREAMER TECHNOLOGY

AMAZON WARRIOR

Summary as of March 2019 Shearwater reserves the right to alter specifications without prior notice

IMO 9662394 | YEAR BUILT: 2014 | FLAG: PANAMA

SEISMIC INFO

PULLING CAPACITY @ 5KTS 160 TONNES

Efficient Monowing deflection system

227kms Qmarine single sensor streamer

450MB+ seismic data per shot Infield geophysics capacity including 2432 cores, 352TB and 8 tape drives

Simultaneous streamer handling 6+ streamers

Calibrated marine sources Steerable sources TRISOR 1.6 source system

Steerable streamers (Qfins) Integrated streamer acoustics Spread width 1600m+

/Electric

CLASSIFICATION

VESSEL INFO

SPS | RPS(+)

VESSEL INFO

TRINAV 6 positioning system

DNV | POLAR CLASS 7 | SPS | RPS(+)

LENGTH 126m

BREADTH DRAFT PROPULSION 7m 32m Dual Shaftline Diesel/Electric SPREAD FUEL TYPE MGO TOWED GROSS TONNAGE 21,195

CLASSIFICATION ENDURANCE AT SEA

DNV | POLAR 120 CLASS 7 | SPS | RPS(+) DAYS

BREADTH DRAFT LENGTH PROPULSION PULLING CAPACITY @ 5KTS 7m 126m 32m Dual Shaftline Diesel/Electric 160 TONNES

ENDURANCE AT SEA 120 DAYS BREADTH DRAFT LENGTH @ 5KTS7m 126m PULLING CAPACITY 32m 160 TONNES

FUEL TYPE COMMUNICATIONS SPREAD MGOTOWED DUAL VSAT - 4 MB BW

SPREAD COMMUNICATIONS TOWED DUAL VSAT - 4 MB BW

GROSS TONNAGE MAX. TRANSIT SPEED 21,195 17 KNOTS

MAX. TRANSIT SPEED 17 KNOTS

Maritime Review Africa

Offshore Mining and Exploration | 2021

11

P

UPSTREAM AFRICA

42%

Developments and Situational Review

In a poll run by Maritime Review on LinkedIn, the overwhelming majority (42 percent) of responders said that they were totally against the operations.

Amazon Warrior had employed three “guard” tugs to be on continuous standby – something else that seemed to be a concern for protesters. Comments on Facebook even indicated that the survey vessel had lost her tow, but this remains unconfirmed.

In a poll run by Maritime Review on LinkedIn, the overwhelming majority (42 percent) of responders said that they were totally against the operations.

Considering that most of the respondents are from within the maritime sectors – one can only assume that this is quite telling.

A total of 28 percent, however, said that they did not have enough information to make a qualified decision, while 18 percent believe that it will not harm marine life. Lastly, 12 percent admitted that the practice was damaging but necessary.

The irony of our strong reaction to the seismic surveys lies in the continued global reliance on oil in our everyday lives. Protesters threatening not to use Shell petrol stations in South Africa, must surely understand that Shell is not alone in using seismic The surveys to improve irony of our strong the accuracy of reaction to the seismic their exploration surveys lies in the continued programs. In global reliance on oil in our everyday addition, we are lives. Protesters threatening not to use sorely mistaken Shell petrol stations in South Africa, must if we believe surely understand that Shell is not alone that fuel is the in using seismic surveys to improve the only by-product accuracy of their exploration programs.

In addition, we are sorely mistaken of oil exploration if we believe that fuel is the only and production. by-product of oil exploration and production.

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Maritime Review Africa

Offshore Mining and Exploration | 2021

Our lives are literally brimming over

with products that include petroleum.

From household appliances to medical equipment and drugs as well as furniture, toys, nail polish and even surfboards – our daily lives are impacted by the availability of this fossil fuel.

So, in reality – we have to look at our own consumption and consumerism before we start waving placards on the beach front.

In addition, every human activity emits sound and consequently every human activity at sea does too. From small recreational fishing vessels using fishfinding equipment to the mammoth container ships that deliver trade – all of these activities contribute to ocean noise.

The Amazon Warrior is, however, no stranger to strong reactions from the public having been intercepted by Greenpeace in 2017 offshore New Zealand in an attempt to stop the seismic survey due to take place in waters off the coast of Ngāti Kahungunu. Concerns from fishermen in Australia against seismic surveying date back ten years already – and a number of international governments have already placed a ban on this practice in particularly sensitive areas.

In Australia, a Senate Inquiry into seismic testing was tabled in June this year and notes that more than 50 countries do, however, allow marine seismic surveys to be undertaken in their waters. The final report states that the body of science and research into the impacts of seismic sound exposure is “variable and incomplete”. There is a general acceptance, however, that not enough is known about the cumulative effects of seismic signal exposure.

More research is required As such the report recommends that further funding be committed to research studies that aim to identify and evaluate the impacts of seismic testing on individual species, including commercially and ecologically important marine species, to provide baseline information that can be used to build on the existing

GENERAL INFO

Developments and Situational Awareness

BUILT FOR SAFETY WORLDWIDE Designed and built for optimum stability at 5 nots Winteri ed and ready for arctic operations Reduced pitching and rolling even in rough water.

Transit through high piracy areas without requiring a port call for hardening.

VESSEL GA

SPS comfort class C2 and V2 - minimal vi ration and noise pollution

BUILT FOR EFFICIENT OPERATIONS

BUILT FOR SEISMIC

Layout ena ling efficient ship to ship operations with minimal restrictions o shore supplies, crew change bunkering).

Ena les efficient management of seismic spread including deployment and recovery

Hull and propulsion for ma imum efficiency at acquisition speeds.

A ility to e pand operational window with deep streamer spreads.

Full and multi a imuth ac uisition through single and multivessel ac uisition techni ues

Full redundancy on components in the seismic spread.

Rich 4D with steerable streamer and steerable source technology.

Hotel accommodation isolated from wor areas

Machinery system supports o shore maintenance.

Lifting and carrying equipment between decks eliminated through optimal location of stores and wor elevator

24kms of hands free streamer storage for reconfigurations at sea allowing efficient preparation of spread.

A ility to launch and recover wor oats from preferred side depending on weather conditions.

Remote support with 24 direct connectivity to vessel ac uisition systems

“Clean Class” and “Clean Design” Overall reduction in gas emissions and no over oard discharge

UPSTREAM AFRICA

Efficient seismic through wide streamer and wide source, triple source and SimSource techniques.

Reveal Seismic Software used on oard every Shearwater vessel

DNV CLASS 18

Winteri ed and safe for Arctic operations (Polar Class 7)

ICE CLASS

Wider Weather operational window

STABLE

2 5

Knots Hull Efficiency

120

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

knowledge base. It also recommended that a levy on oil and gas companies that conduct seismic testing activities could help fund this research.

The International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) is, however, already involved in research to help increase the understanding of the effect of sound generated by the industry on marine life.

In 2005 a wide group of international oil companies and the International Association of Geophysical Contractors committed to establish a Joint Industry Programme (JIP) under the auspices of the IOGP to identify and conduct a research programme that improves the understanding of the potential impact of Exploration and Production (E&P) sound on marine life.

Shearwater themselves understand the need to innovate towards more environmentally friendly and superior

Streamer capable

Independent propulsion and steering system (RPS)

Production days fuel capacity MGO Clean Fuel

August 21

By Andrew Long (Andrew.Long@pgs.com)

1 of 7

Seismic Surveys Have Little Impact on Demersal Fishes A large-scale three-year experiment recently quantified the impacts of exposure to a commercial seismic source on an assemblage of tropical demersal fishes targeted by commercial fisheries on the North West Shelf of Western Australia. Monitoring of the composition, abundance, behavior, and movement of the fishes was pursued in multiple before-after-control-impact and dose–response experimental frameworks using acoustic telemetry and underwater video. The multidisciplinary team of scientists, technical staff and industry experts found there were no short-term (days) or long-term (months) effects of exposure on the composition, abundance, size structure, behavior, or movement of this fauna. These multiple lines of evidence suggest that seismic surveys have little impact on demersal fishes in this environment.

Elements of results from the published study are summarized and highlighted.

The NWSSRP Study and the Marine Seismic Noise Measurement and Impact Theme In 2017, the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and its partners commenced the North West Shoals to Shore Research Program (NWSSRP), a three year, A$20 million study of the North West Shelf of Australia (refer to Figure 1). The program of 11 separate studies within four main themes has been conducted by a multidisciplinary team of scientists, technical staff and industry experts. Each of the four themes addressed gaps in scientific knowledge relevant to the environmental management of the offshore petroleum industry in north-western Australia, and are as follows: Theme 1: Marine seismic noise measurement and impact (considered in this article): Describe the acute and chronic effects of seismic and vessel operations under real-world conditions.

Theme 2: Seabed habitats and biodiversity:

REVIEW ON EXISTING DATA ON UNDERWATER SOUNDS PRODUCED BY THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

Examine the ecological processes that maintain benthic communities on both ancient and contemporary coastlines.

Theme 3: Protected and iconic species movements and threats: Assist the quantification and mitigation of the risks vessel movements, industrial infrastructure and activities pose to marine megafauna on the North West Shelf.

Theme 4: Understanding the isolated coral atolls of the North West Shelf: The past, present and future of Rowley Shoals: Develop a habitat model and adaptive monitoring program that informs the future condition of these remote coral reef atolls.

A report prepared by Seiche Ltd for the Joint Industry Programme (JIP) on E&P Sound and Marine Life

The NWSSRP Symposium was held on September 23 and 24, 2020 and marked the completion of the Program.

Theme 1 (Marine seismic noise measurement and impact) comprised two large and significant experiments that investigated the effect of marine seismic surveys on both fish and peal oysters, respectively. The paper titled ‘A large-scale experiment finds no evidence that a seismic survey impacts a demersal fish fauna’ by Meekan et al. (2021) was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), and addressed the first experiment results. Content herein is drawn heavily from that paper. A second experiment was also pursued to determine what is the nature and extent, if any, of the impact of seismic surveys on mortality, physiology, growth and production of market quality pearls by pearl oysters. As the roughly 7 000 oysters seeded with peals are still in the process of being grown out for two years to maturity, that study has not yet concluded; however, results are expected in late-2021.

JIP Topic - Sound source characterisation and propagation

A Clearer Image │ www.pgs.com

September 2020

seismic operations. In June last year, they announced a collaborative project to develop Broadband Acoustic Seismic Source (BASS) that aims to reduce the source’ environmental footprint. The project, undertaken in collaboration Maritime Review Africa

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UPSTREAM AFRICA

Developments and Situational Review

with Equinor and the Research Council of Norway recognises that the oil and gas sector is likely to face ever increasing restrictions on seismic operations worldwide.

social media res

According to their statement these “marine vibrators have the potential to be a game changer”. In a report prepared for JIP in 2018, a consortium of researchers undertook to determine the impact of marine vibrator technology following continued concerns raised against seismic air gun operations. Another report released in September last year highlights that marine vibrators could offer a better option.

“Three major oil and gas companies (Total, Shell and ExxonMobil) contribute with their own prototypes. The systems have already been built and tested, and the results are currently being analysed to determine whether they fulfil the required technical specifications. Other companies are contributing with their own systems, each at a different stage of development.

Among these companies are PGS, Applied Physical Sciences, Teledyne, CGG, Schlumberger, Geokinetics and GPUSA,” they write.

South African government’s response Pointing out that at least 12 seismic surveys have been conducted off South Africa’s coastline in the last five years, Minister Gwede Mantashe attempted to address some of the concerns raised by citizen and environmental bodies, but managed to raise the ire of citizens by comparing their resistance to an Apartheid held belief that the country and, indeed, the continent should not succeed.

“In relation to the Shell seismic survey, due processes were followed including an environmental impact assessment in 2013 culminating in the approval of the Environmental Management Programme (EMPr) in 2014. An independent audit was also carried out in 2020 to test the efficacy of the mitigation measures in the 2014 EMPr, this audit report was shared with the

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registered interested and affected parties and no objections were received,” he said adding that many countries are thriving thanks to their oil and gas discoveries.

“Several countries on the African continent have announced their oil and gas finds which present massive opportunities for economic growth, industrialisation, and job creation. As these developments unfold, we have noted with interest, the pushback, and objections from environmental lobby groups against the development of these resources,” he added.

“I cannot help but ask myself, are these objections meant to ensure the status quo remains in Africa, in general, and South Africa, in particular? That is, the status quo with regards to energy poverty, high unemployment, high debt to GDP ratio at country level and economies

sponse

Developments and Situational Awareness

UPSTREAM AFRICA

South Africans mobilised on social media and showed up outside courthouses during legal proceedings aimed at stopping the seismic surveys.

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Local artist, i ness, released a song ased on ohn Lennon s tune, Imagine, at the eginning of Decem er to ring attention to the seismic lasting At the time of pu lishing, he had almost 200 views

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UPSTREAM AFRICA

Developments and Situational Review

that are not growing and, in some cases, “While developed jobless economic countries are moving quickly growth. Could to accelerate the energy transition it be possible as an economic and investment that this is stimulus, developing countries, spefically an extreme those in Africa, cannot afford to and largely pure love for lack the supporting infrastructure and the environdomestic market skills to follow this trend. For ment or an this reason, peal oil demand in developing unrelenting countries is only projected to be reached campaign toward the end of this decade” to ensure SOURCE: that Africa and PwC Oil and Gas Review South Africa do not see the investment inflows they need?” he asked pointing to 47 appeals lodged against environmental authorisation for drilling exploration issued to ENI and Sasol for their east coast block.

Despite the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment dismissing these appeals, environmental lobby groups have sought legal action. “These actions send a negative signal to our investors and potential investors that it is near impossible to do business in South Africa,” said Mantashe.

He concluded by saying that the country deserves the opportunity to capitalise on its natural resources including oil and gas. “We consider the objections to these developments as apartheid and colonialism of a special type, masqueraded as a great interest for environmental protection. South Africa’s economic development is oppressed in the name of environmental protection when we have environmental framework that ensures that licensing is done with the utmost environmental care founded on Section 24 of our Constitution. We therefore appeal to all objectors to acknowledge this and allow South Africa to exploit its natural resources for the benefit of its citizens.”

Mantashe ended his recent press briefing by assuring potential investors in the South African upstream petroleum space of the government’s commitment to work

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with them to ensure that the exploitation of these resources is undertaken in an environmentally friendly manner.

South African prospects The offshore discovery in the Brulpadda field by Total in 2019 was met with significant fanfare and very little of the push back currently taking centre stage against Shell. In fact, the discovery spurred a renewed interest in South Africa’s offshore acreage.

At the time seismic data had already been collected by a number of operators who had sought permits and rights to explore.

According to the Petroleum Agency of South Africa’s integrated report, the Agency had embarked on a project to transcribe a total of 154,296 seismic data tapes in 2015.

In 2017 PetroSA and Rosego of Russia signed an agreement that will see about US$400 Million invested in oil and gas development.

The agreement involved the development in the exploration areas of blocks 9 and 11a off the South Coast of South Africa.

Within the framework of the agreement, Rosgeo is supposed to conduct a considerable volume of geological exploration work including 3D seismic operations.

Again, this news was not met with the same amount of public outcry that we are seeing now.

The initial reports emanating from Operation Phakisa with regard to environmental risk, highlighted that general public perception relating to oil and gas exploration could be a problem, but the sector was firmly entrenched in the 2014 Oceans Economy intervention. The plan included ambitious targets to drill 30 exploration wells over the ensuing decade.

Seismic surveys were also highlighted as a potential area of “significant impact” on the marine environment, natural resources and coastal communities.

Continental pressures There is also a sentiment on the continent

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that African countries are being unfairly expected to take on the sins of first world countries who have already had the benefit of establishing their economies through industrialisation and who have now shifted into the technology and information economies.

This essentially leaves industrial activity to developing nations who are also expected to conform to ever-increasing environmental restrictions that were not in place previously and did not inhibit or increase the costs of industrialisation during the last century.

As such, the notion is that today’s thriving economies benefited from the lack of these environmental controls that exist today. The truth is that these economies

were, in fact, the worst polluters and are now able to shift their economic activities to more environmentally friendly pursuits, while still relying on industrial products that they expect emerging industrial nations to produce cleanly and with less emissions in the face of the effects of the climate change that they induced.

The debate, therefore, becomes politically nuanced and can be interpreted to suggest that developing and emerging economies are being prejudiced in a world focused on global warming and environmental restrictions.

Whatever the course ahead involves - it is clear that more significant public engagement is needed.

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ENV

ENE Imaging tomorrow’s ene RAT

When the drilling rig Deepsea Stavanger and the seismic survey vessel, Polarcus ,arrived off the coast of South Africa in 2019 there was none of the public outcry we are experiencing now.

Media hailed the Brulpadda discovery as a “game changer” for the country and news reports were peppered with words like “exciting” and “significant”.

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LOCALISATION

Promoting Local Content in the Oil and Gas sector

Towards developing a strategy for localisation in the offshore oil and gas industries This article will focus on localisation in terms of capacity building in skills, supply chain innovation, supplier development and partnerships. One cannot ignore that oil and gas exploration is relatively new to South Africa, which adds to the complexities of achieving localisation objectives.

By Adrian Strydom, CEO of the South African Oil and Gas Alliance

Localisation should be seen as a long-term strategy and should not only be requirement driven. A longterm approach is required to optimise results, in contrast to a narrow approach to local content. Over the long-term costs will be driven down, which will result in a win-win scenario for local and global industries and for South Africa and its people.

A cross cutting approach is favoured, so as to develop skills and capacity across the energy, mining and manufacturing industries.

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Localisation will strengthen the performance of supplier firms by enabling them to acquire the skills and capabilities required to make them globally competitive. It should be noted that producing indigenous oil and gas will have a significant positive impact on the trade balance of South Africa, economic growth and much needed employment creation.

The climate change discourse, which has intentionally sought to demonise investments into Africa’s oil and gas sector, poses a challenge to its growth.

Oil and gas companies are experiencing increasing pressure to divest from oil and gas exploration projects. This will have an impact on how we conceptualise our approach to local content in the industry.

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A cross cutting approach is favoured, so as to develop skills and capacity across the energy, mining and manufacturing industries.

A shared localisation vision should be developed, with buy-in across industry, government and other stakeholders. A phased approach is required, to ensure we aggregate intelligence on the anticipated phases of the energy transition.

This will enable the industry to more readily improve readiness for the future.

If we want to see tangible results, we need to set SMART objectives that will enable us to evaluate success.

REGIONAL REACH The fact is, South Africa and Africa will be more and more energy hungry as industrialisation increases. Energy security is an important requirement for sustainable industry growth. Developments across the continent are expected to increase energy consumption by more than 50% before 2040. The current electricity outages South Africa is experiencing is by no means supporting industry growth and development.

Over the past decade most of the world’s significant oil and gas discoveries were on the African continent. This puts an emphasis on the localisation debate.

South Africa is in many ways favourably positioned to benefit from new developments related to these discoveries.

50%

To optimise regional opportunities, we need to improve readiness from a localisation

Developments across the continent are expected to increase energy consumption by more than 50% before 2040.

Promoting Local Content in the Oil and Gas Sector

LOCALISATION

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LOCALISATION

Promoting Local Content in the Oil and Gas sector

perspective. In this way South Africa can play a leading role to support the development of the region into a formidable energy producing force.

Investors are under pressure not to fund oil and gas exploration initiatives. Government and industry have to partner to intentionally pick up the slack.

THE ENERGY TRANSITION

OPERATION PHAKISA

One cannot, however, ignore the impact the energy transition will have on the country’s plans to explore indigenous oil and gas. For this reason a localisation strategy has to have an across-industry approach. This raises the importance of having an informed and phased approach to energy transition, where intelligence is gathered on how the energy transition is expected to play out within the South African context.

In 2015/2016 the Phakisa Local Content Work Group mapped out the offshore oil and gas supply chain. This involved analysis of the major activities from front-end exploration to final decommissioning of fields.

Gas in particular, will be part of the energy mix for the foreseeable future. It is not productive nor realistic to have a renewables-only approach to the energy transition and beyond, at the cost of sacrificing energy security.

South Africa should learn from the energy security challenges that the developed world is currently faced with and avoid making the same decision errors. Indeed, Africa should learn from successful localisation examples elsewhere.

Programmes like the Seda Supplier Development Programme (SDP) is aimed at strengthening the performance of supplier firms by enabling them to acquire the skills and capabilities required to make them globally competitive. The oil and gas industry needs to actively partner with Seda and other similar organisations to address supplier development in the industry, with the understanding that flexibility is needed.

In a recent meeting between US President Joe Biden and Kenyan President Uhuru M. Kenyatta, President Kenyatta alluded to the fact that Africa has the lowest carbon footprint, yet the continent pays the highest price in terms of sacrifices it makes to care for the environment. What poses a threat to supplier development in the oil and gas industry is the shrinking availability of funding for this purpose.

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The phases include:

Exploration (resource acquisition and evaluation)

Drilling (exploration, appraisal and production wells)

Well completion (making wells productive, subsea systems)

Infrastructure and facilities (for ongoing production

Support services (during all above phases).

The capabilities required in these phases were classified as follows to inform localisation activities and to enable incentives.

Capability that matches opportunity directly.

Capability that exists but matches other industries or sectors (latent capability).

Capability that could be developed through R&D and/or other mechanisms (e.g. licensing or certification).

Capability not available or accessible locally; only international Provision should be made for incentivising localisation initiatives. These incentives could range from granting tax breaks to potential investment, to reducing bureaucracy affecting the sector, participation in a supplier development programme.

OCEANS ECONOMY MASTERPLAN An intergovernmental master planning process, currently underway continues to build on the Phakisa work. One of the focus areas is indeed localisation/local content, focusing on Skills Development, Supplier Development and Technology,

Promoting Local Content in the Oil and Gas Sector

LOCALISATION

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LOCALISATION

Promoting Local Content in the Oil and Gas sector

Innovation and Competition.

Supplier development programme

A comprehensive action plan is being developed by key governmental, industry and community stakeholders. The Master plan developed around a shared vision, will be used as a tool to define coordinated activities that align with common goals. It is anticipated that the implementation of the plan will be evaluated in a structured way.

An oil and gas focused Supplier Development programme should be developed in line with the South African context.

MOVING TOWARDS MEETING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL LOCALISATION STRATEGY An analysis of successful localisation initiatives suggests the following imperatives.

A shared vision The current master-planning process has the optimistic intention to develop a shared vision and action plan for localisation.

The quality imparitive In the oil and gas industry quality is not negotiable. Skills and production practices has to conform to global industry standards.

South Africa is not starting from zero. An analysis of the quality gap and globally recognised certifications needs to be done in collaboration with industry. This will help to inform readiness initiatives. Need for an industry focused quality assurance vehicle.

Skills readiness There is a strong link between Skills Development, Job Creation and Social Development. A gap analysis is to be done.

Provision should be made for funding developing and offering of upskilling courses. I some cases new courses should be developed.

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Partnerships Strong partnerships across Government, industry, labour and communities cannot be over-emphasised.

Technology, innovation and competition Capacity to be developed with the support of TIA and Industry.

New SABS certification system The new certification scheme launched by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) on October 14, that aims to harmonise local content and local production for producers and manufacturers, will go a long way to bring integrity to certification.

More needs to be done to focus on the oil and gas industry.

A high value supplier development portal Whilst the SAOGA supplier development portal and the MOGA skills portal provide connecting points for suppliers and buyers of goods and services in the marine, oil and gas and energy sectors, these portals need to be upgraded to provide more accurate information on certification and quality. An active industry partnership is critical.

Marketing the industry Without positioning the industry as a quality supplier locally, regionally and globally not much will be achieved.

Industry bodies, like SAOGA are ideally placed to serve in this capacity.

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF LOCALISATION Promoting Local Content in the Oil and Gas Sector KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION? Do you know which countries in Africa are focusing on maritime-related projects?

Do you know which entitities are requesting proposals, quotes or information about maritime-related projects?

Have you identified the maritime sectors that show growth and opportunities?

Are you considering the bigger potential that Africa offers?

Answer these questions so that you can identify potential new markets; maritime sectors poised for growth and participate in new business opportunities.

We scour over 100 sources every week and are constantly searching for additional resources to ensure that we capture as many of the publicly available maritime bidding opportunities as possible. Each tender alert includes a title, who issued the bid, a brief description, the closing date, the date of issue and a direct link to the documents or more information.

Our Premium Subscription includes monthly spreadsheets of the tenders issued with additional information to help classify the sectors and other information so that you can more easily identify and classify the opportunities.

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MARINE DIAMOND MINING Support and Development

World’s largest diam

The new Debmarine Namibia’s diamond mining vessel has been prominent in the Port of Cape Town for some time and even hosted an open day for interested parties to gain insight about the workings of such a mammoth ship.

T

he Additional Mining Vessel (AMV#3) as it is technically known, will use sub-sea crawling extraction techniques to retrieve diamonds from the seabed off the coast of Namibia.

These will then be processed on board.

177 metres in length, it is now the largest diamond recovery vessel in the world and the new flagship of the Debmarine Namibia fleet. The vessel is expected to operate for at least 30 years.

Built at Damen Shipyards Mangalia, the vessel was officially handed over in August this year before departing for the Port of Cape Town where she is being fitted with mission equipment before beginning operations off the coast of Namibia early next year.

The delivery marks the end of the shipbuilding phase of a landmark project that began over three years ago. It is the first vessel to be delivered by Damen Shipyards Mangalia, the Romanian yard that joined the Damen group in 2018, to

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take on large and complex, engineered to order projects under the banner of the Mid-Sized Vessels division.

The build involved a number challenges, ranging from the onset of COVID-19 early in the project to the management of many subcontractors, each contributing their specialist skills and products. Engineering challenges included the installation of a DP2 dynamic positioning system based on a seven-thruster propulsion system powered by six generators, to enable greater flexibility in the vessel’s operations. Project management was undertaken by De Beers Marine South Africa (Pty) Ltd. With the constraints of COVID-19 Damen also undertook the complete commissioning process, implementing incremental ways of working to ensure that it was all completed on time. “De Beers celebrates the completion of the vessel which, after a long period of design, construction and testing has now

Support and Development

MARINE DIAMOND MINING

mond mining vessel

proceeded to sea” said Michael Curtis, Head of the AMV3 Project.

“The vessel build has been a truly multinational effort which has converged successfully at Damen Shipyards Mangalia. The build of this magnificent ship has enjoyed a high profile in Namibia as the largest ever single investment in the history of marine diamond recovery.”

The new vessel is expected to create more than 161 new jobs alongside Debmarine Namibia’s current workforce of close to 1,000 employees.

On completion, the vessel is expected to add 500,00 carats annually to Debmarine Namibia’s production – representing approximately 35 percent additional capacity.

Five commercial banks partnered to finance the US$375 million deal for 80 percent of the vessel construction costs.

The remaining 20 percent was covered by Debmarine Namibia.

Local content With some of the steelwork for the vessel fabricated in Walvis Bay and much of the mission equipment built in the Port of Cape Town during the construction of the vessel, Debmarine’s goal to broaden local economic growth through their operations has been realised.

The mission equipment consists of the recovery tool and the processing plant – parts of which were fabricated in Walvis Bay. 3C Metal Belmet Namibia was awarded the project.

“The project stretched our capacity as it was a big learning curve for our employees and we are grateful for the opportunity.

As a result we managed to keep our staff employed through these tough economic downturn related to COVID-19,” said Jarcu Groenewald of 3C Metal at the time, adding that the project represented the biggest contract awarded to the Namibian company to date.

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MARINE DIAMOND MINING Support and Development

Ensuring continuity in the offshore mining value chain

The first launch services began operation from Port Nolloth in 1999 and since then AMSOL and its predecessors have worked with De Beers supply chain operations to ensure that the diamond mining fleet receive the required support.

Located about 700 Km North of Cape Town towards South Africa’s border with Namibia, Port Nolloth is a small seaport that was originally established to transship copper from the Okiep mines and diamonds from the Namaqua coast. Today it has become a strategic location where AMSOL , a marine expert, provides a safe and specialised offshore marine logistics & supply solution utilizing two modern supply launches from the Port Nolloth Base including a DPII AHTSV from Lüderitz , Namibia to the World’s largest offshore diamond mining fleet of DeBeers & Debmarine operating off South West Africa.

P

rofessional and efficient logistical support and the dependable and safe provision of equipment and resources is vital to the mining vessels operating offshore Namibia.

The first launch services began operation from Port Nolloth in 1999 and since then AMSOL and its predecessors have worked with De Beers supply chain operations to ensure that the diamond mining fleet receive the required support.

Debmarine currently operates the following mining vessels: Coral Sea, Debmar Atlantic, Debmar Pacific, Gariep, Grand Banks and Mafuta. An additional vessel, the SS Nujoma, acts as an explo-

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Support and Development

MARINE DIAMOND MINING

ration and sampling vessel. Debmarine now awaits the deployment of their latest acquisition which is currently undergoing fitments in the Port of Cape Town having departed from the Romanian shipyard where it was built in September this year.

Safety is key These are the vessels that AMSOL provides supply and support services to in partnership with the De Beers Supply Chain team in Port of Nolloth, and the Debmarine Namibia operation out of Lüderitz.

AMSOL operates two offshore support launches out of Port Nolloth, the Aukwatowa and the Aogatoa – both of which were built locally in Cape Town in 2015.

The AHTSV Nomasa was acquired by the company in 2020 and flagged in South Africa and provides essential support to the fleet out of Lüderitz. These three vessels remain a critical link in the

AFRICAN SOLUTIONS. INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS. AMSOL is a specialist solutions provider and partner to clients who operate in marine environments. As a market leader, AMSOL is the only marine solutions provider in the region that is employee and management owned, and is a catalyst for economic empowerment and shared value creation. amsol.co.za

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MARINE DIAMOND MINING Support and Development

offshore mining logistics chain – and AMSOL’s Masters, Officers and Crew are committed to providing a safe, efficient, and professional service to ensure operational continuity.

Recently, to coincide with the De Beers Global Safety Day under the theme ‘Safe to always be safe’, AMSOLITES took time out in Port Nolloth to reflect on the commitment to best practice safety and celebrate SHEQ Award winners and Values Champions.

Supporting the community A local supply chain supporting AMSOL’s operations is important to ensure sustainable economic impact. AMSOL’s dedicated Strategic Sourcing team works closely with suppliers and service providers in the Richtersveld area as well as in Namibia to ensure continuity in the value chain.

Medical services, transportation, accommodation, victualling and food supplies are sourced locally and vehicle and equipment maintenance is also provided by local businesses. This helps support and sustain employment in these remote coastal towns.

Many of AMSOL’s employees are members of the community which is why initiatives during the COVID19 pandemic to provide food parcels and PPE to the local clinic were impactful.

The company also partnered with Port Nolloth Primary School last year on a renovation project that ensured learners would have access to improved sanitation facilities at the school, which is a key health requirement in ensuring their wellbeing – and better supports their readiness to learn.

The Aukwatowa was built and launched by Damen Shipyards Cape Town in the Port of Cape Town in 2015.

She was the first of two vessels built by AMSOL to support the operations in Port Nolloth.

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Support and Development

WATCH

MARINE DIAMOND MINING

Learn more a out African Marine Solutions in this corporate video as they introduce their team of specialists and showcase their portfolio of services and vessels

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Celebrating 15 years of reporting on the maritime industry

If you make your living on or from the sea - this is the magazine to read