Wärtsilä providing advanced technical support for De Beers Marine Namibia vessel

Technology group Wärtsilä has signed a Technical Management Agreement (TMA) with Debmarine Namibia. The agreement is designed to provide advanced technical support to the latest Debmarine Namibia vessel, the ‘Benguela Gem’. This is the first Lifecycle Agreement signed by Wärtsilä in Southern Africa. The order was entered into Wärtsilä’s order book in December 2022.

The ’MV Benguela Gem’ operates with six Wärtsilä 32 engines. The scope of the three-year TMA includes maintenance support for the engines and digital solutions to optimise the performance and prevent unnecessary downtime. The Dynamic Maintenance Planning solution optimises the time between overhauls and provides flexibility for maintenance scheduling. The Expert Insight, Wärtsilä's unique predictive maintenance solution, secures asset availability by preventing potential problems before they occur. Through constant attention to the operational data from the engines, optimal performance can be achieved.

Debmarine Namibia Production Engineer David Shivute says:

“We have Wärtsilä engines installed on vessels throughout our fleet, and we are familiar with their quality and reliability. With this Technical Management Agreement, we are strengthening the cooperation between our companies through the supply of additional services, such as Expert Insight. We feel that this will support our operations even further.”

Henrik Wilhelms, Director of sales at Wärtsilä, says:

“We already support six vessels in the Debmarine Namibia fleet, but this agreement for their latest ship takes the support to a new level. This is completely in line with our lifecycle support approach, designed to ensure maximum efficiency and operational uptime for our customers’ vessels.”

The Debmarine Namibia fleet of diamond recovery vessels are mainly equipped with Wärtsilä engines. The 177-metre long ‘Benguela Gem’ commenced commercial operations off the Namibian coast in March 2022. It is reported to be the most technically advanced diamond recovery vessel in the world. The Wärtsilä agreement is effective from the beginning of 2023.