The 24th Session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) began Monday morning, March 5th with the opening of the Council. The Council will continue to meet 5-9 March, followed by the Legal & Technical Commission (LTC) from 12-23 March. Both meetings will review current ISA contracts and discuss the Draft Exploitation Regulations produced by the […]
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F ebruary 2018 was a gold star month for Nautilus Minerals, with significant advances made on seafloor production tool operations, vessel construction and both financial and organizational stability. The month’s progress renews confidence that the controversial Solwara 1 deep sea mining project in Papua New Guinea’s Bismarck Sea remains viable and on track for projected […]
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As we move into the International Seabed Authority’s (ISA) 24th annual meeting (part 1), DSM Observer caught up with some of the seabed mining community’s key actors to ask them a single question, “What is the biggest single issue facing the ISA this year?” The respondents, representing a range of stakeholder groups, include an ISA […]
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Three new journal papers published since the beginning of the year highlight the complexity of deep sea ecosystems and reveal new information on some of the same seabed features targeted for seabed mining exploitation. Deep Sea Fish Use Hydrothermal Vents to Incubate Eggs A new study in the journal Scientific Reports reveals that species of […]
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Deep sea mining company Nautilus Minerals announced on 9 Feb 2018 that the government of Papua New Guinea has granted them a two year Exploration License to conduct exploration activities on a 2,558km2 area within the southeast Bismarck Sea. Along with the announcement, Nautilus revealed two new seabed exploration maps detailing seabed features and the […]
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Two new papers in major scientific journals opened the new year with a focus on the potential environmental impacts of deep sea mining. The papers, published in Science and Frontiers in Marine Science, took big-picture looks at current scientific evidence on the impacts of seabed mining in the context of increased demand for key minerals […]
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Nautilus Minerals is advancing its equipment-testing at the same time as financial and management shortfalls prompt worries about the firm’s longevity. Submerged trials for Nautilus’ Seafloor Production Tools (SPTs) began in Papua New Guinea during the latter part of 2017 and are now nearing completion. Trials on the Collecting Machine and Auxiliary Cutter were completed […]
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In March, the ISA will hold the semi-annual meeting of its Legal and Technical Commission (a regularly-scheduled event) immediately after the completion of a semi-annual meeting of the ISA Council (an innovation for a body accustomed to once-a-year sessions) . The dates are 5-9 March for the Council and 12-23 March for the Legal & […]
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River Publishers has released Building Industries at Sea: ‘Blue Growth’ and the New Maritime Economy. The book highlights four promising areas of activity identified by the European Union for their ‘Blue Growth’ potentials. The chosen sectors are Aquaculture; Renewable Energy (offshore wind, wave and tide); Seabed Mining; and Biotechnology. Each area has experienced a rise […]
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The U.S. National Science Foundation has provided a grant for $500,000 to Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science for development of a real-time subsea wireless communications technology. The team will design, deploy and evaluate a first-of-its-kind testbed for real-time undersea wireless communications and surveillance (data, voice, and video streaming). The new technology, […]
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