WINDHOEK, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's marine diamond miner Debmarine Namibia reported on Monday a 13-percent drop in production to 1.125 million carats in 2020 as the demand for diamonds weakened due to COVID-19.

Debmarine's revenue fell by 5 percent to 6.6 billion Namibian dollars (440 million U.S. dollars) while royalties and tax to the government decreased by 6 percent to 2.1 billion Namibian dollars (141 million U.S. dollars), the company said.

The company's CEO Otto Shikongo said the work on the diamond miner's new ship, to be known as the AMV3 with the capacity to add 500,000 carats of annual production, was progressing well with the construction expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2021 and the production from the vessel planned in the second quarter of 2022.

The Bank of Namibia estimated that diamond output was down 14.7 percent in real terms in 2020 and will grow 2.8 percent in 2021 and 16.9 percent next year.

Debmarine Namibia, a subsidiary of Namdeb Holdings, is owned in equal shares by the government of Namibia and De Beers. Enditem

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