On 5 December, the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), H.E. Mr. Michael W. Lodge, provided a detailed update at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly on ISA’s recent progress, highlighting the significant achievements and ongoing collaborative endeavors since 2022.

The Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) today used his powers under Regulation 33 of the Regulations on Prospecting and Exploration for Polymetallic Nodules, to promulgate immediate measures of a temporary nature in relation to the reported incident involving the ISA contractor, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc (NORI), and Greenpeace International in the NORI-D contract area in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone.

On 16 November 2023, the Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) held its second Deep DiplomaSea webinar of the year to raise awareness of its role, mandate and work among staff of permanent missions to ISA and the United Nations. The event was primarily attended by diplomats and senior United Nations agencies’ staff.

On 14 November 2023, the national focal points in charge of liaising with the Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) on matters relating to capacity development (NAFOP-CD) met for the second time this year. As of today, there are 59 NAFOP-CD.

The Council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) closed the meetings of Part III of its 28th session on Wednesday, 8 November 2023. The Council met in person for 10 days. A total of 29 of the 36 Members of the Council were in attendance, along with 17 other Members and 19 Observers.

H.E. Mr. Sidi Mohamed Laghdaf presented his credentials to the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), H.E. Mr. Michael W. Lodge, as the Permanent Representative of Mauritania to ISA, during a ceremony held in Kingston, Jamaica, on 8 November 2023.

Dr. Michael Imran Kanu presented his credentials to the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), H.E. Mr. Michael W. Lodge, as the Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to ISA, during a ceremony held in Kingston, Jamaica, on 1 November 2023.

The Council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) will resume Day 2 of its meetings under Part III of the 28th session on Tuesday, 31 October, following a 5.6 magnitude earthquake that occurred at 10:40AM local time in Jamaica yesterday.

The Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) held the sixth annual meeting of exploration contractors from 22 to 24 October 2023. The meeting was held in Dar es Salaam, the United Republic of Tanzania. Twenty-two representatives of exploration contractors attended the three-day meeting in person and virtually.