Diamonds in the deep: How gems are mined from the bottom of the ocean
Photos: How diamonds are mined from the Atlantic seabed
In Namibian waters off the west coast of Southern Africa, enormous mining vessels suck diamonds from the seabed.
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Photos: How diamonds are mined from the Atlantic seabed
These ships operated by Debmarine Namibia mine 24 hours a day, 365 days a year within a 2,300 square mile area — just under half the size of Jamaica.
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Photos: How diamonds are mined from the Atlantic seabed
Since operations began in 2002, Debmarine Namibia has extracted nearly 16 million carats of marine diamonds from the ocean.
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Photos: How diamonds are mined from the Atlantic seabed
Each mining ship has a team of 120, with 60 people working on board for each 28-day rotation. Employees are flown by helicopter to and from the vessel.
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Photos: How diamonds are mined from the Atlantic seabed
The diamond mining company sends out unmanned, autonomous vehicles to survey the seabed.
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Photos: How diamonds are mined from the Atlantic seabed
They also make use of a two-person submarine to examine the geology of the seafloor.
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Photos: How diamonds are mined from the Atlantic seabed
Using this technology, Debmarine Namibia can identify areas of the seabed which contain diamonds and devise a comprehensive mine plan.
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Photos: How diamonds are mined from the Atlantic seabed
One of the ships has a 280-ton track-mounted crawler that moves in a horizontal arc and mines in lanes.
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