Autorité Internationale des Fonds Marins

The Fundación Ramón Areces, in collaboration with the International Seabed Authority and the Government of Spain will convene Seabed: The New Frontier international seminar in Madrid, Spain from 24-26 February 2010.

The seminar will highlight the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the 1994 Implementation Agreement, the institutions created under the Convention;  the international framework and regulation of deep seabed: the role of the International Seabed Authority and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; and address the current state of development of deep seabed mineral resources, with emphasis on marine mineral resources of the Area.

Presentations (see Introduction & Agenda) will be made by experts from the institutions established by the Convention; Contractors with the Authority on exploration for polymetallic nodules in the Area, and on efforts to commercialize deep seabed marine mineral resources such as polymetlalic sulphides and cobalt-rich crust deposits. Spain will also make presentations on its offshore minerals resources, marine scientific research programmes, marine science institutions and make proposals to participate more in activities in the Area.