The International Seabed Authority is calling for applications for the training programme to be provided by China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association (COMRA) in 2015 pursuant to the contract for exploration for polymetallic sulphides between the International Seabed Authority and COMRA.

The International Seabed Authority and the Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer (Ifremer) have signed a 15-year contract for exploration for polymetallic sulphides. 

The contract was signed in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France on 18 November 2014 by the Secretary-General of the Authority, Nii Allotey Odunton and the President-Managing Director of Ifremer, François Jacq.

A Chilean Delegation led by His Excellency, Ambassador Eduardo Bonilla Menchaca, Chile’s Ambassador to Jamaica and Permanent Representative to the International Seabed Authority made a two-day visit to the ISA Secretariat on Wednesday and Thursday, 15th and 16th October 2014. 

Ambassador Bonilla Menchaca was accompanied by Captain Fernando J. Mingram of the Armada de Chile, Executive Secretary of the National Oceanographic Committee of Chile and Mr. Maximiliano Jara Pozo, Third Secretary and Consul of Chile in Kingston. 

In his keynote address to participants attending the Polymetallic Nodules Resources Classification Workshop, ISA Secretary-General Nii Odunton stressed the importance of the workshop and its outcome.

Secretary-General Odunton said he hoped that the outcome of the week-long workshop would form the basis of standards for resource classification, facilitate the provision of resources data and provide a partial basis for the ISA's Legal and Technical Commission to consider and make recommendations to the Council.

Secretary-General Nii Odunton accompanied by his Deputy and Legal Counsel, Michael Lodge, had the opportunity to visit the Soil Machine Dynamics (SMD) facility in Newcastle upon Tyne  on 4 September 2014, to get a look at Nautilus Minerals' Polymetallic Sulphides Mining Technology.

On 11 September 2014, a Chinese delegation headed by Mr. Jiancai Jin, Secretary General, China Ocean Mineral Resources R & D Association of the People’s Republic of China (COMRA), visited the headquarters of the International Seabed Authority.

The delegation was composed of officials from the National People’s Congress of China and the China Institute for Marine Affairs.

Ambassador Joachim Christoph Schmillen of the Federal Republic of Germany presented his credentials to the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority as the new Permanent Representative  to the Authority on 19 August 2014.

Prior to taking up his position as ambassador of Germany to Jamaica, Ambassador Schmillen held many important assignments, both in the diplomatic service as well as in the military service in his home country.  In 2003 he was posted to Chile as Germany’s ambassador and then went on to occupy positions in Nigeria and Peru.

On 8 August 2014, the Authority received an application for approval of a plan of work for exploration for polymetallic nodules in the Area submitted by China Minmetals Corporation, which is sponsored by the Government of the People’s Republic of China.

The application area is in the reserved areas of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone of the Central Pacific Ocean.

Makes exploitation regulations and extension of exploration contracts top priority for 2015 session, adopts budget for 2015-2016, elects 17 Council members

The urgent need to begin elaboration of regulations for the exploitation of minerals from the deep seabed Area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction was a central theme at the International Seabed Authority’s twentieth anniversary session in Kingston (14-25 July 2014).

The historic twentieth session of the International Seabed Authority ended in Kingston this afternoon after its Assembly completed debate on the Secretary-General’s annual report and acted on five decisions including the Authority’s budget for the 2015-2016 biennium. The Assembly set 13-24 July 2015 as the date for the Authority’s next session.

The Assembly of the International Seabed Authority yesterday (24 July) concluded its consideration of the Secretary-General’s annual report in Kingston this morning hearing comments from twelve delegations and three observers on many aspects of its topics.

Secretary-General Nii Allotey Odunton (Ghana), presented the report which covers the work of the Authority since the last session, to the Assembly yesterday.  It was the highlight of the 166-member body’s agenda during its twentieth anniversary session.

The Assembly of the International Seabed Authority resumed discussion on the report of the Secretary-General Nii Allotey Odunton (Ghana) in the afternoon (23 Julyu) which covered the work of the Authority during the period from July 2013 to June 2014.

The challenge of managing the increasing work load of the Authority as it moves towards elaborating exploitation regulations and the need for standardized data on the living resources of the seabed Area were highlighted by Secretary General, Nii Allotey Odunton (Ghana).

The Council of the International Seabed Authority, meeting in Kingston this morning, adopted a twelve-paragraph decision on the summary report of the Chair of the Legal and Technical Commission which was presented at its 17 July meeting.

Revised from a 32-paragraph document submitted by Brazil on the basis of comments and contributions by members of the Council, the draft decision (ISBA/20/C/L.10) is a streamlined consensus text formulated during informal group consultations on Monday, 21 July.

The Assembly of the International Seabed Authority yesterday (22 July) held a day-long special session to commemorate the organisation’s twentieth anniversary with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, noting in a message, that the ongoing development by the Authority of a comprehensive set of rules governing seabed mining would go a long way towards helping States derive tangible benefits from the deep seabed Area.