Secretary-General Micael Lodge for the Economist | 2 April 2019 Deep sea mineral exploration is one of the most tightly regulated activities in the ocean. Under international law, exploration, as distinct from marine scientific research (which is open to all States), may only be undertaken under a contract with the International Seabed Authority (ISA), an […]
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Emma Charleton for World Economic Forum | 10 April 2019 What comes to mind when you think of the high seas? Pirates, whales, giant squid and great white sharks? Long the subject of stories and myths, life in the oceans beyond territorial waters is far from picture perfect. Under threat from climate change, acidification, overfishing, […]
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Radio New Zealand | 9 April 2019 Last week, Nautilus Minerals had its common shares delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) even as it seeks to sell off its assets. In a note to the TSX last Wednesday, the company said four of its directors had resigned, including chief executive John McCoach. Read the […]
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Alex Fox for Science | 3 April 2019 No flag can claim the high seas, but many nations exploit them. As a result, life in the two-thirds of the oceans beyond any country’s territorial waters faces many threats that are largely unregulated, including overfishing and the emerging deep-sea mining industry. Now, nations are negotiating the […]
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Radio New Zealand | 1 April 2019 The company behind a troubled deep sea mining project in Papua New Guinea has suffered another blow in its delisting from a major stock exchange. Read the full article here: PNG seabed mining company delisted from stock exchange.
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During functionality testing ahead of the proposed launch of Patania II— GSR’s purpose-built prototype nodule collector —damage was caused to a critical cable, resulting in power failure. The cable, known as an umbilical, is 5 kilometers in length and contains specialised wiring to power, control and communicate with Patania II from a surface support vessel, as well […]
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Amber Cobley for The Ecologist | 15 March 2019 If you ask someone to describe the deep sea, the response is often a depressing description of a barren landscape devoid of life; one of such crushing pressure and eternal darkness that the chance of life surviving here seems only possible in stories of science fiction. […]
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Paul Voosen for Science | 14 March 2019 Sometimes the sailors’ myths aren’t far off: The deep ocean really is filled with treasure and creatures most strange. For decades, one treasure—potato-size nodules rich in valuable metals that sit on the dark abyssal floor—has lured big-thinking entrepreneurs, while defying their engineers. But that could change next […]
Read MoreChina launched its 54th ocean expedition on Monday to conduct research on the oceanic resources and environment in the Pacific, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). The Chinese oceanographic research ship Xiangyanghong 10 departed from the city of Zhoushan in east China’s Zhejiang Province. The whole journey will take 255 days and travel […]
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Jessica Aldred for chinadialogue ocean | 26 February 2019 What is deep sea mining? It’s the process of retrieving mineral deposits from the deep sea – the area of the ocean below 200 metres. This covers around 65% of the Earth’s surface and harbours a rich diversity of species adapted to the harsh environment – […]
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