News

The Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) held the fifth annual meeting of exploration contractors from 5 to 7 December 2022. The meeting was hosted by Allseas and the Technical University of Delft, in Delft, the Netherlands. Forty-two representatives of ISA exploration contractors attended the three-day meeting, either in person or virtually. 

On 9 December, the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), H.E. Mr. Michael Lodge, reported on the progress made by the organization since December 2021 at the 77^th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Secretary-General welcomed the support of the General Assembly to the work undertaken by ISA, especially the resumption of in-person meetings under the 27^th session of the ISA Council and Assembly and progress on the negotiations on the draft regulations for exploitation of mineral resources in the Area.

On 8 December 2022, the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), H.E. Mr. Michael Lodge, was invited to address the plenary meetings of the 77^th session of the United Nations General Assembly in relation to the commemoration of the 40^th anniversary of the adoption and opening for signature of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

On 1 December 2022, the Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) successfully concluded the inception workshop of its Sustainable Seabed Knowledge Initiative (SSKI) with the adoption of a clear roadmap of activities to achieve tangible outputs for sustainably advancing the understanding of biodiversity in the deep ocean by 2025.

The Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is accepting proposals for consultancy services to undertake a study on the internalization of environmental costs of exploitation activities in the Area in the production costs of minerals from the Area.

On 29 November 2022, the Legal and Technical Commission of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) confirmed the selection of two (2) candidates for at-sea on-board training opportunities provided by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea (MOF-ROK) in accordance with its obligations under its exploration contract for polymetallic sulphides with ISA.

The selected candidates are:

On Tuesday, 29 November 2022, the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), H.E. Mr. Michael W. Lodge, was invited to address the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Conference organized in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

On Friday, 25 November 2022, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) successfully concluded a three-day workshop on enhancing genetic approaches to advance deep-sea taxonomy for biodiversity assessment. The workshop was organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea (MOF) and the National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea (MABIK) in Seocheon, Korea. It gathered experts from the scientific community, ISA exploration contractors, government and regional organizations from 20 countries attending either in person or remotely.

The Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is accepting proposals for consultancy services for the development of geological models for polymetallic nodules (PMN) and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts (CFC) in the international seabed area (the Area) using artificial intelligence techniques.

The consultancy will support the ISA Secretariat in identifying and implementing technological solutions for the digital assessment of PMN and CFC occurrences in the Area, as well as geological and oceanographic factors involved.

On 24 November 2022, the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), H.E. Mr. Michael W. Lodge, and the Honorable Minister of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea, H.E. Mr. Seung-hwan Cho, formalized a renewed partnership between the ISA Secretariat and the Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries (MOF) to further strengthen collaboration in deep-sea exploration, scientific research and the sustainable development of seabed mineral resources in the international seabed area (the Area).

The Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is accepting proposals for two consultancies for the preparation of draft standards and/or guidelines on 1) electronic monitoring and 2) insurance obligations for the future exploitation of mineral resources in the international seabed area (the Area).

The Council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) closed the meetings of Part III of its 27^th session on Friday, 11 November 2022, ending the 27^th session of ISA. The Council met in person for ten days. A total of 30 of the 36 Members of the Council were in attendance, along with 16 other Members and 12 observers.

The Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is accepting proposals for consultancy services to evaluate the potential contribution of ISA and its DeepData database to an ocean health assessment index.

The DeepData database is a spatial, web-based data management system that hosts all data related to deep-seabed activities supplied by ISA contractors since 2012. It includes physical and chemical parameters (current velocity, turbidity, temperature and salinity) and biological data (biodiversity, zooplankton and phytoplankton biomass and diversity).

The Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is accepting proposals for consultancy services to assess the potential contribution of ISA to promoting research on plastic pollution in the international seabed area (the Area).

The consultant/individual contractor will work in close collaboration with ISA exploration contractors to analyze and assess the opportunity for ISA to promote and facilitate research on the occurrence, distribution, deposition and risk assessment of (micro)plastics in the Area and identify possible pathways forward.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) and the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF) of Egypt invite you to a joint side event at the 27^th conference of the parties (COP 27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 14 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.