Greenpeace Challenges Dutch Government on Deepsea Mining
Plans by Swiss-Dutch offshore giant Allseas to operate machinery for deep sea mining firm The Metals Company under unilateral U.S. authorization directly violate the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), according to a legal opinion commissioned by Greenpeace Netherlands.The legal opinion by Professor André Nollkaemper of the University of Amsterdam notes that the binding May 2026 Contract for Development Work and Commercial Production between Allseas and The Metals Company (TMC) includes activities prohibited under international law. According to Nollkaemper the threat is “no
Coral Reef Rescue Underway
decades ahead.Researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and partners have established an interlinked network of weather stations, moorings, buoys and other sensor-loaded devices to collect data on tropical marine ecosystems and assembled a team of oceanographers to coordinate efforts and analyze the information.Weather station at Davies Reef (Image courtesy of Marie Roman / AIMS)“The instruments we use operate in difficult environments and can get damaged. A tenacious barnacle can ruin months of data,” said AIMS Oceanography and Shelf Processes Team Lead Simon Spagnol
US Coast Guard Outlines Commercial Dredge Fishing Safety Risks, Recommendations
. The CFV was operating in an area unfamiliar to both the Master and deckhand when the dredge was inadvertently dragged over a rock pile, which is a common hazard encountered in the region. The dredge accumulated a substantial load of rocks and clams, exceeding 1,000 pounds. When raised above the gunwale for retrieval, the heavy load created a significant heeling moment, with the weight positioned high and outboard, which also raised the vessel's center of gravity. This unfavorable condition degraded the vessel's stability and was deemed a contributing factor to the capsize and subsequent sinking
Battery Breakthrough: Mining Batteries, in a Microwave
phones and electric vehicles to grid-scale energy storage and earbuds, but their cathodes — the part of batteries denoted by a plus sign — are expensive to make and rely on minerals sourced from a limited number of countries, including lithium and cobalt. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, is responsible for mining about 70% of the world’s cobalt.Sandia’s new method does more than recycle those cathodes: It upcycles them, transforming spent battery material into new cathodes that better match current industry needs while using less time and being more affordable
Venezuela: Trinidad and Tobago Oil Spill is Detrimental to Environment
;at risk."This event exceeds in magnitude the one that occurred in May and confirms the drift of pollutants toward Venezuelan waters," the government said in a statement without providing further details on the extent of the spill, which it said was confirmed by satellite imagery.Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil asked Trinidad and Tobago in May for compensation for another oil spill that had affected areas in the far east of the country.Trinidad and Tobago's government said on Friday that it had deployed its Air Guard, Coast Guard and drones to find the purported oil spill and was
Kongsberg, Ocean Exploration Trust Launch Pacific Seabed Mapping Expedition
in the Central Pacific aimed at surveying previously unexplored areas of the ocean floor and testing next-generation mapping technology.The Pacific Mapping expedition, running from June 10 to June 24, will see OET's Exploration Vessel Nautilus deploy Kongsberg's EM 304 MKII multibeam echo sounder for the first time.Three Kongsberg engineers will be aboard the vessel throughout the 14-day mission, using the expedition as a platform to test and refine multibeam mapping technology under real-world operating conditions.The EM 304 MKII is designed for full-ocean-depth operations and combines wide survey
REGENT’s Seaglider Set for Japan Take Off with New Certification Process
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Japan Airlines (JAL) have entered into an agreement with Lloyd's Register and U.S.-based REGENT Craft to jointly develop certification and operational approval processes for REGENT's fully electric Seaglider vessel, as the companies work toward commercial deployment in Japan.The initiative marks the first collaboration in Japan involving a classification society aimed at supporting the commercialization of Seaglider vessels.Seagliders are fully electric wing-in-ground effect craft that operate a few metres above the water surface using ground effect. The vessels
A Double-Sided Trident: Dual-Use Environmental Data Underpins Subsea Defense
demanding the immediate return of what it described as a sovereign immune U.S. vessel. China eventually returned the glider, some five days later.The USNS Bowditch oceanographic survey ship at sea. Credit: U.S. Navy photoThis was not the first time the Bowditch had been harassed by China’s maritime forces. Fifteen years before, while conducting hydrographic survey operations in the Yellow Sea, the vessel was confronted by a People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) frigate and ordered to halt its survey and immediately depart the area. (She would later return under the watchful eye of a U.S. Navy
MARTAC Expands Across Western USA With Opening of San Diego Innovation Center
Maritime Tactical Systems, Inc. (MARTAC), a provider of fully autonomous unmanned surface vessels (USVs), announced the opening of the MARTAC Innovation Center West in San Diego, California. The new facility marks a milestone in the company’s expansion, strengthening its ability to serve defense, security and commercial customers across the West Coast and Pacific regions.The MARTAC Innovation Center West will serve as a hub for research, development, testing and customer engagement, complementing MARTAC’s headquarters in Melbourne, Florida. San Diego’s deep ties to the U.S. Navy
February 2026
