Deep Sea Mining Agreement Reached
will take an initial 15% interest in the project with an option to take up to a further 15% interest within 12 months of the agreement becoming unconditional. Papua New Guinea has paid Nautilus a non-refundable deposit for its initial 15% interest of US$7,000,000. Source: Nautilus Minerals/BBC News
Robotic Submarine Begins Flight MH370 Search
;An international search has focused on waters west of the Australian city of Perth, with teams racing against time to detect signals before the flight recorder batteries – which last about one month – run out, are to send down a [Bluefin Robotics manufactured] Bluefin 21 AUV, reports BBC News. Search chief Angus Houston told the BBC that the Bluefin-21 drone would be sent down as soon as possible to search for wreckage on the sea floor. Teams have been using a towed pinger locator to listen for signals from the plane's "black box" flight recorders. But no new signals
Basking Sharks Add Weight to Offshore Project Cancellation
Plans for a £5.4-billion offshore wind farm off the coast of Tiree in the Inner Hebrides have been dropped, partly because of the presence of basking sharks in the area, reports BBC News. The project, if continued, would have had up to 300 turbines and a capacity of up to 1800MW, enough to power one million homes. Scottish Power Renewables (SPR) cited construction issues and a significant presence of basking sharks in the area for its decision. Campaigners against the wind farm welcomed the decision, on the grounds that it would have been what they describe as an environmental disaster for
February 2024
