Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Honourable A.J. Nicholson and Secretary-General Odunton of the International Seabed Authority today launched the 30th Anniversary of the Opening for Signature of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in Kingston.

The International Seabed Authority will host a sensitization seminar on its work and current issues relating to deep seabed mining in New York on 16 February 2012.

Ambassador Paola Amadei, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Jamaica, presented her credentials as the Permanent Representative to the International Seabed Authority to the Secretary-General on 8 February 2012.

H.E. Gerardo Lozano Arredondo presented his credentials to the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority on 2 February 2012.

KINGSTON, JAMAICA, 1 February 2012 –The ISA today announced the availability of training opportunities for suitable candidates from developing countries.

The International Seabed Authority and Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (TOML) today signed a 15-year contract for exploration for polymetallic nodules in an area covering 74,153 km2 in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean. This marine area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction is one of a number of reserved areas earmarked for developing countries such as the Kingdom of Tonga and was ceded by ISA contractors from Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea and France.

Two applications sponsored by China and the Russian Federation were the first to have been made under the Authority’s regulations on polymetallic sulphides that was adopted in 2010.

29 NOVEMBER 2011, NADI, FIJI — Speaking at the opening of the Workshop on Environmental Management Needs for Exploration and Exploitation of Deep Seabed Minerals, Nii Allotey Odunton, Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority told participants that ISA has taken steps to augment the international community’s knowledge base in order to facilitate adequate environmental protection from mining.

The International Seabed Authority and China signed a 15-year contract for prospecting and exploration for polymetallic sulphides located in the Southwest Indian Ridge.