White House Could Bypass UN on Deep-Sea Mining
groups say the practice should not be allowed to begin given the potential risks to marine life.Any country can allow deep-sea mining in its own territorial waters, roughly 200 nautical miles from shore. Governments most interested in developing deep-sea mining industries in their waters include the Cook Islands, Norway and Japan.The 36-member ISA council met again in Kingston, Jamaica, earlier this month to review hundreds of proposed amendments to a 256-page draft mining code for international waters, although the meeting ended without resolution.The ISA's lack of progress led Vancouver-based The
Underwater Sabotage: A Baltic Sea Timeline
any sabotage.A Swedish prosecutor on February 3 concluded that the breach happened by accident and released the vessel.DECEMBER 2024: POWER AND INTERNET CABLESThe Estlink 2 undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia was damaged on December 25 along with four telecoms lines.Finland seized the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S tanker on suspicion it caused the damage by dragging its anchor, adding that the ship was part of a "shadow fleet" circumventing sanctions on Russian oil.The Kremlin said the ship's seizure was of little concern to it, and Russia has previously denied involvement
Cook Islands Deal with China on Seabed Mining Spurs Protest
A strategic partnership deal between China and the Cook Islands spans areas from deep-sea mining to education scholarships but excludes security ties, a document released by the Pacific island nation's government showed.Western nations that traditionally held sway in the region have become increasingly concerned about China's plans to increase influence after Beijing signed defence, trade and financial deals with Pacific countries in the last three years.Amid domestic criticism of lack of transparency, the government unveiled the action plan for the deal on Monday in the Cook Islands, in
Subsea Cables "Torn Apart" by External Force, says Elisa
at Elisa, which owns two of the four fiber optic lines, said on Monday. The cables, running between Finland and Estonia, are steel-reinforced with a diameter of just over two centimetres, with several layers of insulation protecting the fibres within.The Eagle S vessel, which is registered in the Cook Islands, was brought to a bay near Finland's port of Porvoo where police are currently collecting evidence and questioning the crew, eight of whom were named as suspects in the investigation.Repairing the Estlink 2 power cable that was broken along with the telecoms cables is expected to take some
Subsea Sabotage in the Baltic Sea - a Timeline for Perspective
Estlink 2 undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia was damaged on Dec. 25 along with four telecoms lines. Finland launched a sabotage investigation and on Dec. 26 seized a tanker carrying Russian oil on suspicion it caused the damage by dragging its anchor. Finnish authorities said the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S was part of a "shadow fleet" used to circumvent sanctions on Russian oil exports. The European Union said it condemns any deliberate destruction of Europe's infrastructure.The NATO military alliance said on Dec. 27 it would boost its presence in the Baltic Sea
Drag Marks Found on Baltic Seabed After Finland-Estonia Interconnector Damage
Finnish police said on Sunday they had found tracks that drag on for dozens of kilometres along the bottom of the Baltic Sea where a tanker carrying Russian oil is suspected of breaking a power line and four telecoms cables with its anchor.The Cook Islands-registered Eagle S was boarded by Finnish police and coast guard officials on Thursday and sailed into Finnish waters where the crew of the impounded tanker is being questioned.Baltic Sea nations have been on high alert after a string of outages of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. NATO said on
Pacific Islands in Peril as Sea Level Rises
; said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo in a statement to coincide with the release of the regional State of the Climate report 2023 at the forum in Tonga.Already, such rises have brought a surge in the frequency of coastal flooding since 1980, with dozens of instances happening in islands like the Cook Islands and French Polynesia which previously reported just a handful of such cases annually.Such events are sometimes caused by tropical cyclones which scientists think could also be intensifying due to climate change, as sea surface temperatures climb.Over 34 hazards like storms and floods were reported
MTR100: Deep-sea Mining May Prove Pivotal in the Climate Change Discussion
is known about the seabed and its ecosystems, and the long-term impacts of mining are impossible to determine at this point. On September 8, French Polynesia became the most recent territory to call for a ban on DSM, calling out their “cousins of the Pacific”—Kiribati, Nauru and the Cook Islands—for pushing forward with mining despite only having explored about 5% of the seabed. “If we have to examine what’s on the ocean floor, it should be solely for the acquisition of knowledge, not for exploitation purposes,” said Minister for Marine Resources Heremoana Maamaatuaiahu
Sustainable Seabed Mining: Impossible Mining Partners Up with Boskalis
Impossible Mining, a company developing sustainable seabed mining technology, has said it has partnered up with the Dutch marine services company Boskalis to explore the integration of its robotics with vessel operations for selective harvesting of nodules in the Cook Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean.In November 2021, Impossible Mining, which describes itself as a public benefits corporation based in Silicon Valley, said it was developing the technology to mine the seabed without causing serious harm. It said at the time it had secured funding to develop prototypes of an autonomous
February 2025
