20 Jun 2017

It is my distinct honour and privilege to welcome you here to the Port of Walvis Bay for this momentous occasion, in the history of Debmarine Namibia.

It is no exaggeration, when I say that we are here to witness a red-letter day occasion for Debmarine Namibia.

At an occasion of this nature, it is unavoidable, but to think back seventeen years ago – to the year 2000. The two shareholders, the Government of the Republic of Namibia and De Beers had just concluded a tough-round of negotiations. Many issues were concluded, but in amongst those concluded matters; top of that list was…”migrate the operations of the marine business from Cape-Town to Windhoek…”. For many of us Namibians in the business, it was a moment of mixed emotions. On the one hand – celebrations & euphoria – that Namibia would be the rightful home of a business that operates in its territorial waters. On the other hand – it was extreme anxiety; will we be able to do this? How? Where will we get the people to make this a reality? Those were some of the many questions that occupied our minds at the time.

Gallery