KINGSTON, JAMAICA – In his first address to the General Assembly since being elected ISA Secretary-General, Mr. Nii Allotey Odunton spoke about matters relating to Oceans and the Law of the Sea . He said he felt extremely privileged to have been invested with the responsibility for guiding the work of the Authority over the next four years.

In a bid to further strengthen the existing cooperation  with the International Seabed Authority, China has granted funding to support five candidates to pursue Masters or Doctorate degrees in Marine Science at the Tongji University.

The workshop on the finalization of the Geological Model of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone is scheduled for 14-17 December at the Authority’s headquarters in Kingston.

Experts attending the final review meeting of the geological model have agreed on a schedule of corrections/modifications to the model and the Prospector’s Guide to be completed by the end of October 2009.

Scientific experts began a 3-day final review meeting at ISA Headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica from 7-9 September to review the Geological Model of polymetallic nodule deposit formation in the Clarion Clipperton Region. 

The ISA Endowment Fund has awarded Ms Alejandra Mariana Rocha of Argentina, Mr Olubunmi Nubi of Nigeria and Mr Niroshana Wickramaarachchi of Sri Lanka, fellowships under its Technical Assistance Program-Marine Scientific Research (TAP-MAR) to participate in a course being offered by the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) in Goa, India. 

At the recent 19th Meeting of State Parties to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Secretary-General of the Seabed Authority, Nii A Odunton reported on the important elements of the work of the Authority over the past months.

The International Seabed Authority wound up its fifteenth annual session in Kingston 5 June after nearly two weeks of intensive negotiations without finalizing a text on a set of regulations that would govern the exploration of polymetallic sulphides in deep oceans beyond national jurisdiction.

The Secretariat presented a review of outstanding issues concerning the draft regulations on prospecting and exploration for polymetallic sulphides in the Area (ISBA/15/C/WP.2). This 25-paragraph working paper, with three annexes, covers additional background on the outstanding issues with respect to the draft, which the Council had agreed to consider at this session. A revised text of the entire draft regulations (ISBA/15/C/WP.1), harmonized in all official languages, and incorporating the revisions, was also presented to Council.