3.4.1. Deep Sea Mining

Back in the early 1980s there was great commercial interest in marine mining. This initial euphoria over marine mining led to the International Seabed Authority (ISA) being established in Jamaica, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) being signed in 1982 – the “constitution for the seas”. Since entering into force in 1994, this major convention has formed the basis for signatories’ legal rights to use the marine resources on the

sea floor outside national territorial waters.

After that, however, the industrial countries lost interest in resources. For one thing, prices dropped making it no longer profitable to retrieve the accretions from the deep sea and utilize the metals they contained. Also, new onshore deposits were discovered, which were cheaper to exploit.

The present resurgence of interest is due to:

♤ The sharp increase in resource prices and attendant rise in profitability of the exploration business.

♤ Strong economic growth in countries like China and India which purchase large quantities of metal on world markets. Even the latest economic crisis is not expected to slow this trend for long.

♤ The industrial and emerging countries’ geopolitical interests in safeguarding their supplies of resources also play a role. In light of the increasing demand for resources, those countries which have no reserves of their own are seeking to assert extraterritorial claims in the oceans.