Lending Oceans a Robotic Hand
, picking individual nodules with robotic arms. There is no sediment release mid-water and no noise from pumps or the DP system of vessels.It is an example of how hopeful industry players are that they can counter environmental concerns. Over 20 countries and companies such as Google, BMW, Volvo and Samsung have indicated their opposition to seabed mining. They prefer to protect the unique and largely unknown ecology of the seafloor.Will the human and robotic helping hands being developed be enough to protect the beauty and mystery of the deep for future generations? Time will tell
Deep-sea Mining: A New Gold Rush or Environmental Disaster?
they're based on, which is limited for deep-sea environments".Lusty, who led a British government-commissioned review on deep-sea mining published in 2021, said companies also face challenges in creating a business case.Some would-be buyers like major technology and car companies like Google, Samsung and BMW have called for a temporary ban, and there are likely extra costs compared to mining on land."Naturally, the economics of mining certain minerals on land will be preferable to doing that in the deep sea," Lusty said.(The Thomson Reuters Foundation - Reporting by Jack Graham; Editing
Deep-Sea Mining Threatens Biodiversity 25 Times More Than Land-Based Mining, Report Says
kilometer to mine them, according to the report.Seabed mining in international waters cannot start until the International Seabed Authority (ISA), a Jamaica-based U.N. body, decides on regulations expected by July.Several countries, including Germany, and companies, such as Google, AB Volvo Group, and Samsung SDI are calling for a moratorium on the start of the practice.Others are supporting it. Norway in June proposed opening parts of its extended continental shelf in the North Atlantic for mineral exploration."Any deep sea activity is hugely expensive. In Norway, we're also talking the High
Edward Heerema – Dutch Courage with Single-minded Focus
, as well as an umbilical handling reel system.According to The Metals Company, the piloted system is expected to be upgraded to a commercial system with a production capacity of 1.3 million tons of wet nodules a year by Q4 2024. The two companies are also already discussing acquiring a second vessel, a Samsung 10000, which would be converted to have 3 million ton capacity of wet nodules.Collector testing“We have built the collector, and it is being tested at the moment,” says Edward. The collector, measuring 12m-long, 6m-wide and 5m-tall, was designed in house then built at Allseas’s
TMC, Allseas to Develop Commercial Seabed Nodule Collection System. Plan to Buy Another Drillship
Gem) for conversion to a polymetallic nodule collection vessel, and TMC said Friday there are plans to buy another drillship, which will have a higher production rate than the Hidden Gem."Allseas and NORI also intend to investigate acquiring a second production vessel similar to the Hidden Gem, a Samsung 10000, that is expected to be engineered to a higher production rate of 3Mtpa of wet nodules. A higher-production rate system is expected to reduce the per tonne nodule collection cost significantly compared to the first production system that TMC and Allseas intend to develop and operate,"
Prysmian Group Wins MidEast Submarine Cable Contract
Prysmian Group entered into a Limited Notice to Proceed (LNTP) for the supply of power cables in the context of a landmark HVDC submarine cable project in the Middle East, worth around $252m. The LNTP was awarded to Prysmian by Samsung C&T as part of its EPC consortium with Jan De Nul Group. The new link, part of the strategic HVDC transmission system for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA) Lightning Project, will allow bulk-power energy transmission between the converter station in Al Mirfa, in Abu Dhabi mainland, and that on the Al
Jan De Nul, Samsung Awarded Huge Cable Project in Abu Dhabi
A joint venture of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), Electricité de France (EDF) and Kyushu Electric Power Japan has awarded a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable installation and convertors package for the ADNOC-TAQA Lightning Project to a consortium composed of Jan De Nul Group and Samsung C&T. Jan De Nul will be in charge of the design, installation, burial and protection of two cable clusters of almost 1,000 km in total, connecting the islands Al Ghallan and Das in the Arabian Gulf to the onshore converter stations at Al Mirfa and Shuweihat in Abu Dhabi (UAE).The two cable links
Subsea Mining: All Eyes on Marine Minerals Offshore Norway
by 2050. It pointed to massive sulfides (which originate from hot vents in the ocean where sulfide-enriched water flows out of the seabed, typically in 2000-3000m water depth) as having the most potential in the country.Not everyone is so keen. Karoline Andaur, CEO WWF Norway, points out that Volvo, Samsung, BMW and Google have called for a moratorium on deepsea mining until we know what impact it would have. “We are just beginning to discover the mysteries of the species of the deep,” she says. “We can’t risk long term and irreversible damage to these eco-systems. We need to
Mining Robot Stranded on Pacific Ocean Floor in Deep-sea Mining Trial
exploration contracts, regulations governing deep-sea mining have not yet been finalised by the International Seabed Authority, a U.N. body.Critics, including environmentalist David Attenborough, say seabed mining is untested and has a largely unknown environmental impact. Google, BMW, AB Volvo, and Samsung SDI have backed a call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.GSR has said it will only apply for a mining contract if the science shows that deep seabed minerals have advantages, from an environmental and social perspective, over relying solely on land mining.(Photo: DEME Group)(Reporting by Helen
February 2025
