Deep Sea Harvesting

To meet the increasing demand for both expertise and exploitation techniques in the field of deep sea harvesting, DEME, together with its joint venture partner IHC Merwede, established a specialist company, OceanflORE .

Harvesting marine minerals that cannot be exploited with conventional dredging techniques is the focus of the joint venture company. Such deposits include offshore diamonds, phosphate nodules, iron sands, seafloor massive sulphides and polymetallic nodules.

OceanflORE has the ambition to become the preferred partner for mine owners, providing a full, integrated contract mining solution enabling monetization of the deposit through operational expenses rather than capital expenses.  OceanflORE, therefore, as a mining contractor, focuses entirely on the mining process, allowing the mine owner to focus on his core business. The company  goes beyond traditional contract mining, providing support during the exploration phase and project definition; delivering equipment design & FEED studies; providing project financing; manufacturing innovative equipment; the implementation of projects including comprehensive project management through the deployment of crew and ships, the provision of logistics as well as life cycle support and maintenance throughout the mine life cycle.

OceanflORE introduces State-of-the-Art, ground breaking and innovative solutions to harvest the ocean floor in an efficient and cost effective way with a continuous focus on minimizing the environmental footprint. Tideway, a DEME subsidiary, has hi-tech, modern equipment which can be deployed accurately even at the huge depths required for mining.  Tideway’s latest fall pipe vessel ‘Flintstone’ can dump stones at depths of 2000 meters.

OceanflORE has the capability to build, own and operate a contract mining system by combining the highly specialized expertise of its parent companies, making offshore mining possible, profitable and sustainable.