U.S. Revives Cold War Submarine Spy Program to Counter China
one in Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest known point on earth; the other near Yap, an island in the Federated States of Micronesia. Though China says these sensors are used for scientific purposes, they could detect submarine movements near the U.S. naval base on Guam, a Pacific island territory, the Navy sources said.China’s Ministry of Defense did not respond to requests for comment about any aspect of this story. China's Foreign Ministry declined to comment.The U.S. Navy’s surveillance push is driven by three main factors, according to the three people
Canada's TMC to Seek Seabed Mining License in 2024
, triggered what is known as the "two-year rule" in 2021.The rule put the ISA under pressure to "consider and provisionally approve" applications within two years even if it had not finished devising a regulatory code for the industry.Deep sea mining could provide Nauru, a tiny Pacific island state with a population of around 11,000 people, with a vital source of income as it tries to manage the impact of climate change as well as a decline in tourist revenues during the COVID-19 pandemic.It has said deep sea mining could cause environmental damage, and asked the ISA to set limits
Deep-sea Mining: A New Gold Rush or Environmental Disaster?
nature - including a historic deal in March to defend marine biodiversity on the high seas.For example, the Norwegian government last month announced a proposal to open its national waters to deep-sea mining, whereas in January, France banned the practice in its waters.However, it was the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru that sparked controversy and concern in mid-2021 when it notified the ISA of plans to start deep-sea mining - triggering a two-year deadline for the body to adopt an industry rulebook.By doing so, Nauru - which sponsors Nauru Ocean Resources Inc (NORI), a subsidiary of TMC - required
Inside the Subsea Cable Firm Secretly Helping America Take on China
Coughlan helped Slattery pull off his first major cable deal in the late 2000s, setting him on course to become one of Australia’s wealthiest tech moguls, according to two industry sources with knowledge of the matter.That project, a SubCom-built cable running between Brisbane and Guam, a U.S. Pacific island territory that’s also home to a naval base, almost bankrupted Slattery, the businessman told the Australian Financial Review in a 2016 interview.Thanks to sympathetic suppliers, Slattery got that cable, known as PIPE, over the line, according to the Financial Review article. Crucially,
How Will the Fukushima Water Release Impact the Pacific Ocean?
much-needed space for other vital remediation works. But the plan has attracted controversy.At first glance, releasing radioactive water into the ocean does sound like a terrible idea. Greenpeace feared the radioactivity released might change human DNA, China and South Korea expressed disquiet, while Pacific Island nations were concerned about further nuclear contamination of the Blue Pacific. One academic publication claimed the total global social welfare cost could exceed US$200 billion.But the Japanese government, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and independent scientists have declared
As Nations Pledge to Create Ocean Preserves, How Do Those Promises Add Up?
are fully implemented, they will protect only 4% of the world’s ocean. Adding in all other protected areas and outstanding commitments made in other forums raises that figure to 8.9%.The number is likely to rise as additional countries join in. For example, on May 30, 2022, the South Pacific island nation of Niue pledged to protect 100% of its national waters. They cover 122,000 square miles (317,500 square kilometers) – an area roughly the size of Vietnam.Most recently, the Biden administration proposed on June 8, 2022 to designate Hudson Canyon, which lies southeast of New York
Scientists Struggle to Monitor Tonga Volcano After Massive Underwater Eruption
Scientists are struggling to monitor an active volcano that erupted off the South Pacific island of Tonga at the weekend, after the explosion destroyed its sea-level crater and drowned its mass, obscuring it from satellites.The eruption of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano, which sits on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, sent tsunami waves across the Pacific Ocean and was heard some 2,300 kilometerss (1,430 miles) away in New Zealand."The concern at the moment is how little information we have and that's scary," said Janine Krippner, a New Zealand-based volcanologist with
Will 2020 be the year for Subsea Mining?
mining operation are potentially even more so. Any commercial subsea activity which falls within the EEZ generally 200nmi (and for the purposes of subsea mineral rights, extends out to 350nmi to the continental shelf) is governed by an individual coastal state’s regulations. Some of the Pacific Island nations which early on had significant offshore mineral discoveries have enacted their own legislation to govern mining. For the many areas of commercial interest which fall outside these coastal state boundaries; the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which established the
India Plans Deep Dive for Seabed Minerals
to roughly 2 percent of the country's size.Moon, Mars... and the OceanOnce thought to be too costly and difficult, industrial-scale sea mining could begin as early as 2019.Canada's Nautilus Minerals is on track to become the first company to start operations, which it plans to launch near the Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea, according to a company statement.All countries are as yet in the experimental or exploratory phase, and the ISA is still hammering out regulation and royalty terms for commercial mining.The prospect has excited India, which depends heavily on China, the world's
February 2024
