Debmarine's New, Improved Underwater Diamond Crawler

(IDEX Online) - Debmarine Namibia has unveiled its new underwater crawlers for sucking up diamonds from the seabed.

The remote-controlled 370-tonne vehicles will improve mining efficiency by 20 per cent.

The first pair of new-generation crawlers will be deployed by the end of this month on Debmarine's flagship vessel, the Benguela Gem.

They're bigger (28m long, 8m high and wide), more efficient, more maneuverable and more resilient than their predecessors, and are expected to recover 80,000 additional carats a year (Benguela Gem produces around 500,000 carats annually).

That should partially offset the retirement of two older diamond recovery vessels, says Debmarine, a 50/50 partnership between De Beers and the Namibian government.

Development costs for the crawlers are estimated at N$1.1bn (USD 65m).

They move along the top layer (about 50cm) of the seafloor, pumping diamond-bearing gravel up through an 80cm diameter pipe to the vessel through pipelines for processing.

Introduction of the new crawlers comes at a time when Debmarine is suffering a long-term slump in demand especially from China and the US, cheap rough supply from Angola, and the rising popularity of lab growns. It reported a 38 per cent slump in its 2024 revenue.

Pic courtesy Debmarine Namibia.