INTERNATIONAL
SEABED AUTHORITY - INTERNATIONAL
News:
ISA member nations aim to
ink deep-sea mining rules by 2025
What's
in the news?
● Recently,
International Seabed Authority member nations have agreed to ink deep-sea
mining rules by 2025.
About
International Seabed authority:
● The
International Seabed Authority (ISA) is mandated to “organize, regulate, and
control” all mineral-resource related activities in the Area (the seabed and
ocean floor and the subsoil thereof, beyond the limits of national
jurisdiction).
● Year:
1994.
● It
was established under the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 1994 Agreement relating to
the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of
the Sea.
● Headquarters:
Jamaica
● Members:
168; India is a member of this forum.
● Functions:
○ The
ISA has the authority to issue mineral
exploration licenses on the seafloor that lies beyond national
jurisdiction.
○ Regulate the exploration
of poly-metallic nodules.
About
Deep Sea mining:
● Deep-sea
mining is the process of retrieving mineral deposits from the deep seabed – the
ocean below 200m.
India's
plan regarding deep sea mining:
● India
has acquired a license to explore and mine the minerals in the Indian Ocean region from the International
Seabed Authority.
● Deep Ocean Mission seeks
to develop the technologies required for exploring and, then, extracting
minerals in the deep seabed.
○ It
would develop a manned submersible that can carry three people to a depth of
6,000 meters in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors and tools.