SUBJECT – : PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW

THE COMPOSITION AND FUNCTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL SEA BED

TOPIC–
AUTHORITY.

Supervised By:
MISS ANUTAMA GHOSE

NAME: SUKANYA GHOSH

ROLL NO.: (Admit card No.) - 102/BBA/LLB/16031
(Class Roll.No.) - 24
COURSE: BBA LLB(5 YEARS)

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

With profound gratitude and sense of indebtedness I place on record my sincerest thanks to

MISS ANUTAMA GHOSE, Indian Institute of Legal Studies, for his/her invaluable guidance,

sound advice and affectionate attitude during the course of my studies.

I have no hesitation in saying that he/she molded raw clay into whatever I am through his/her

incessant efforts and keen interest shown throughout my academic pursuit. It is due to his/her

patient guidance that I have been able to complete the task.

I would also thank the Indian institute of Legal Studies Library for the wealth of information

therein. I also express my regards to the Library staff for cooperating and making available the

books for this project research paper.

Finally, I thank my beloved parents for supporting me morally and guiding me throughout the

project work.

Date: SUKANYA GHOSH

NAME

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
__________________________________________________________
Acknowledgement…………………..………….…………….…………………………………..2
Research Methodology……………………………………..…….………………………………4
A. Aims and Objectives……………………………………………………………..………....4
B. Statement of Problem………………………………………………………………………4
C. Research Questions………………………………………………...………….……...……4
D. Hypothesis……………………………………..;…………………………………………..4
E. Method of Research…………….………….………………...…………………………….4
F. Mode of Citation……………………….…………………...……………………………...4

Chapter 1: Introduction…………………………………..………..……………………..………5
Chapter 2: International Seabed Authority (ISA)……………………………………….6-9

Chapter 3: Structure and mandate of the council………………………….…………..10-13

Chapter-4: The function of the international seabed authority ……………………..14-15

Chapter 5: Conclusion……………………………………………………..…………................16

Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………….…..17

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1. Aims and Objectives: the aims and objectives of this project are to understand the concept of
international seabed authority and its function.
2.
3. Statement of Problem: In preparation for the commencement of mining of deep seabed minerals
—some commentators and industry watchers expect this is on the horizon — the ISA is finalizing
an exploitation code for nodules, sulphides, and ferromanganese cobalt crusts, having already
adopted regulations governing the prospecting for and exploration of these minerals. Ever
mindful of the responsibility of its overall mandate, which includes the preservation and
protection of the marine environment of the Area, the ISA has ensured that the draft exploitation
regulations address the protection of the marine environment, as it is required to do under article
145 of the Convention.

4. Research Questions: My research questions are as follows:

 Whether the ISA is taking any step for the preservation of the natural resources or not?
 Whether the ISA is the agency through which States Parties organize, control and
administer the resources of the deep seabed area beyond national jurisdiction or not?

5. Hypothesis: The ISA is on the right path in ensuring the maintenance of the rule of law in the
marine area beyond national jurisdiction. For example, member states appear to have recognized
the importance of the operationalization of the Enterprise. The Enterprise is an organ of the
Authority established under the Convention and is the entity through which developing countries
would be able to participate in commercial exploitation of the mineral resources of the Area. It is
expected to operate independently of the ISA. In this regard, the proposal by Poland to establish a
joint venture with the Enterprise received much support in both the Council and Assembly. A
comprehensive paper on the Enterprise submitted by the African Group also received support
with calls for the ISA to put measures in place for the operation of the Enterprise as a matter of
priority.

6. Research Methodology:“Methodology” implies more than simply the methods the researcher
used to collect data. I did a Doctrinal research in law field indicates arranging, ordering and
analysis of the legal structure, legal frame work and case laws by extensive surveying of legal
literature but without any field work relating to the topic of compensatory mechanism.

7. Mode of Citation: A uniform Mode of citation is to be adopted throughout the project.

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 CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

Public international law is the body of rules that is legally binding on States and international
organizations in their interactions with other States, international organizations, individuals, and other
entities. It covers a range of activities; such as, diplomatic relations, conduct of war, trade, human rights
and sharing of oceanic resources.

International law also regulates relations between States and non-State actors; for example, individuals,
international organizations, and multinational companies. In the case of individuals, international law
gives each individual certain rights. For example, international human rights law gives the individual a
right not to be tortured. This means that a government cannot torture someone they deem a terrorist to
obtain information. International law also imposes on States certain obligations and responsibilities to
protect individuals. For example, when States are at war, one State cannot target and kill civilians of the
other State who did not take part in hostilities.

Authority has been framed by the power bestowed under Article 136 of the UN Convention on the law of
the sea. Authority has been established to frame and formulate rules and regulations in legal framework
for the exploration of the deep sea metallic nodules present beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. The
function of the authority is to establish a repository for marine minerals.These resources are common
heritage of mankind. It has also to access to deep seabed data.

International Seabed Authority (ISA), international organization established in 1994 to regulate mining

and related activities in the international seabed beyond national jurisdiction, an area that includes most of
the world’s oceans. The ISA came into existence upon the entry into force of the 1982 United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which codified international law regarding territorial waters,
sea-lanes, and ocean resources. The ISA is headquartered in Kingston, Jam., and has more than 150 state
members.
The supreme authority of the ISA is the assembly, in which all ISA members are represented. The
assembly sets general policies, establishes budgets, and elects a 36-member council, which serves as the
ISA’s executive authority. The council approves contracts with private corporations and government
entities for exploration and mining in specified areas of the international seabed, oversees implementation
of the seabed provisions of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, and establishes provisional rules and
procedures (subject to approval by the assembly) by which the ISA exercises its regulatory authority. The
secretary-general of the ISA is nominated by the council and is elected by the assembly to a four-year
term. The ISA’s annual plenary sessions, which usually last two weeks, are held in Kingston.
In 2006 the ISA established the Endowment Fund to Support Collaborative Marine Scientific Research on
the International Seabed Area to assist and encourage scientists from developing countries to contribute to
world marine studies. In 2008 additional efforts were made to recruit new members, to improve
multinational cooperation, and to raise funds.

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 CHAPTER-2

INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY (ISA)

The deep ocean below 200 metres is the largest habitat for life on Earth and the most difficult to access.
The sea floor, just like the terrestrial environment, is made up of mountain ranges, plateaus, volcanic
peaks, canyons and vast abyssal plains. It contains most of the same minerals that we find on land, often
in enriched forms, as well as minerals that are unique to the deep ocean, such as ferromanganese crusts
and polymetallic nodules.

The existence of mineral deposits in the deepest parts of the ocean has been known since the 1860s. In
Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, Captain Nemo announced that "in the depths of the ocean,
there are mines of zinc, iron, silver and gold that would be quite easy to exploit", predicting that the
abundance of marine resources could satisfy human need. Although he was right about the abundance of
the resources, he was most certainly wrong about how easy it would be to exploit them.

Serious attention was focused on deep seabed minerals in the 1960s, when American geologist John L.
Mero published a book entitled The Mineral Resources of the Sea, in which he made the case that the
seabed could become a major source of supply for meeting the world's mineral needs. This in turn led
Ambassador Arvid Pardo of Malta to deliver a speech to the First Committee of the United Nations
General Assembly, in which he called for the resources of the deep seabed to be designated as the
"common heritage of mankind" and urged the creation of a system of international regulation to prevent
technologically advanced countries from colonizing the seabed and monopolizing these resources to the
detriment of developing States.

Ambassador Pardo's grand vision captured the zeitgeist of the 1960s and was to become a major driving
factor in United Nations efforts to elaborate a comprehensive regime for ocean governance between 1967
and 1982. In 1970, the General Assembly, in resolution 2749, adopted the Declaration of Principles
Governing the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor, and the Subsoil Thereof: beyond the Limits of National
Jurisdiction, which reserved the seabed exclusively for peaceful uses. Following Pardo's advice, the
Assembly also declared the mineral resources of the seabed as the "common heritage of mankind", to be
developed for the benefit of mankind as a whole through international machinery to be established for
that purpose.

After the initial euphoria of the 1970s, a collapse in world metal prices, combined with relatively easy
access to minerals in the developing world, dampened interest in seabed mining.

It would take another 24 years for the machinery proposed by the General Assembly to come into
existence in the form of the International Seabed Authority, an autonomous organization within the
United Nations common system, with headquarters located in Kingston, Jamaica. All States parties to the
1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) are members of the Authority,
amounting to 168 members, including the European Union. The Authority is one of the three international
institutions established by UNCLOS; the other two are the Commission on the Limits of the Continental
Shelf and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Its primary function is to regulate exploration
for and exploitation of deep seabed minerals found in 'the Area', which is defined by the Convention as

6
the seabed and subsoil beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, that is, beyond the outer limits of the
continental shelf. The Area comprises just over 50 per cent of the entire seabed on Earth.

Today, after decades 'on hold', there is renewed interest from the private sector and Governments alike in
the potential for commercial exploitation of marine minerals. The principal drivers of this new interest are
a combination of technological advances in marine mining and processing, and an increase in the long-
term demand for minerals, which is attributable to globalization and industrialization in the developing
world. Terrestrial mineral deposits are coming under increasing pressure because of the need to serve a
continuously growing global population, an expanding middle class that is driving urbanization and the
need for renewable, low-carbon infrastructure. Easily mined, high-grade ore deposits are quickly
declining. Although new resources are likely to exist in the deep subsurface or in remote locations,
mining these terrestrial deposits will require large amounts of energy and have significant social and
environmental consequences. Increased recycling of metals will provide some relief but will never be
sufficient to satisfy the anticipated long-term growth in demand. Deep seabed minerals are therefore
increasingly likely to make an important contribution to sustainable development, particularly for those
countries that lack secure sources of supply on land, as well as small island developing States that lack
opportunities for economic development.

Commercial interest is currently focused on three types of marine mineral deposits. Polymetallic

nodules occur throughout the ocean and are found lying on the sea floor in the abyssal plains, often
partially buried in fine grain sediments. Nodules contain a wide variety of metals, including manganese,
iron, copper, nickel, cobalt, lead and zinc, with important but minor concentrations of molybdenum,
lithium, titanium, and niobium, among others. The most studied area of commercial interest is the
Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the eastern Pacific, at water depths between 3,500 and 5,500 metres.
This single deposit contains more nickel, manganese and cobalt than all terrestrial resources combined.
Other areas of potential interest are the Central Indian Ocean basin and the exclusive economic zones of
the Cook Islands, Kiribati and French Polynesia.

Polymetallic sulphides (sometimes called sea floor massive sulphides or SMS) are rich in copper, iron,
zinc, silver and gold. Deposits are found at tectonic plate boundaries along the mid-ocean ridges, back-arc
ridges and active volcanic arcs, typically at water depths of around 2,000 metres for mid-ocean ridges.
These deposits formed over thousands of years through hydrothermal activity, when metals precipitated
from water discharged from the Earth's crust through hot springs at temperatures of up to 400'C. Because
of the black plumes formed by the activity, these hydrothermal vents are often referred to as 'black
smokers'. Active hydrothermal vents form unique ecosystems. Chemosynthetic bacteria, which use
hydrogen sulphide as their energy source, form the basis of the vent food web, which is comprised of a
variety of giant tube worms, crustaceans, molluscs and other species. Many vent species are considered
endemic to vent sites, and hydrothermal vent habitats are thus considered to hold intrinsic scientific value.

Cobalt crusts accumulate at water depths of between 400 and 7,000 metres on the flanks and tops of
seamounts. They are formed through the precipitation of minerals from seawater and contain iron,
manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper and various rare metals, including rare earth elements. Globally, it is
estimated that there may be as many as 100,000 seamounts higher than 1,000 metres, although relatively
few of these will he found suitable for cobalt crust extraction. The most prospective area for cobalt crusts
is located in the Magellan Seamounts in the Pacific Ocean, east of Japan and the Mariana Islands.

7
Under UNCLOS, exploration for and exploitation of seabed minerals in the Area may only be carried out
under a contract with the International Seabed Authority and subject to its rules, regulations and
procedures. Contracts may be issued to both public and private mining enterprises, provided they are
sponsored by a State party to UNCLOS and meet certain standards of technological and financial
capacity. Ultimately, the economic advantages of deep seabed mining, most likely in the form of royalties
paid to the Authority, are to be shared for the "benefit of mankind as a whole", with particular emphasis
on the developing countries that lack the technology and capital to carry out seabed mining for
themselves.

The Authority has developed regulations, including provisions relating to environmental protection, to
govern exploration. It has so far approved 28 exploration contracts in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic
Oceans, covering more than 1.3 million square kilometres of ocean floor. In January 2017, Poland applied
for the twenty-ninth exploration contract. Such contracts are held by States parties to UNCLOS and by
companies sponsored by those parties. National Government participants include those from China,
France, Germany, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the lnteroceanmetal
Joint Organization (a consortium of Bulgaria, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Russian Federation
and Slovakia). Contracts have also been granted to an increasing cohort of private entities sponsored by
both developed and developing States parties, including small island developing States such as the Cook
Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Singapore and Tonga.

The Authority is now focused on the development of a regulatory regime for exploitation of these
resources. This involves consideration of a range of technological, financial and environmental issues.
Although there will be technological variations in the mining equipment required for each type of mineral
deposit, the basic concept and methodology for recovery is similar. In each case, a collector vehicle will
make contact with the sea floor and collect the mineral deposits. In the case of SMS and cobalt crusts, this
will require cutting or breaking the mineral deposits from the substrate. Nodules may be harvested
directly from the seabed. In all cases, the mined materials, combined with seawater, will be brought to the
surface by a riser system and transported to a surface support vessel. There the ore will be separated from
the seawater and transported to processing plants on land.

Perhaps the primary concern for the Authority as a regulator is how to balance the societal benefits of
deep seabed mining, including access to essential minerals, the nondisplacement of communities)
extensive deep sea research and technological development, against the need to protect the marine
environment. Of course, the fact that no part of the Area may be exploited without permission from the
Authority ensures that the environmental impacts of deep seabed mining will be monitored and controlled
by an international body. This in itself reflects a precautionary approach to seabed development. It is
evident, nevertheless, that mining will impact the marine environment to some extent, especially in the
immediate vicinity of mining operations. Impacts may include the crushing of living organisms, the
removal of substrate habitat and the creation of sediment plumes. There is also the possibility of other
environmental damage through malfunctions in the riser and transportation system, hydraulic leaks, and
noise and light pollution. Much of the Authority's work to date has focused on requiring exploration
contractors to collect baseline data, especially on the composition and distribution of deep sea species,
and conduct scientific research to better understand the potential long-term impacts of deep sea mining.

The adoption of UNCLOS in 1982 was one of the greatest achievements of the United Nations. One of
the Convention's most important contributions is that it placed more than 50 per cent of the seabed under

8
international jurisdiction, beyond the reach of any single State. Although it has taken more than 50 years
of multilateral effort to begin to realize the promise of the "common heritage of mankind" envisioned by
Ambassador Pardo and enshrined in UNCLOS, the prospects for sustainable exploitation of seabed
mineral resources are better now than at almost any other time in the last 30 years. If managed effectively,
in accordance with the rule of law as set out in the Convention, deep sea mining has the potential to
contribute to the realization of Sustainable Development Goal 14, particularly for landlocked and
geographically disadvantaged States, and small island developing States that are heavily reliant on the
ocean and its resources for economic development. 

CHAPTER-3

9
 STRUCTURE AND MANDATE OF THE COUNCIL

The primary policy-making organ of the Authority is the Assembly, comprising all members (that is, all
of the countries that have signed UNCLOS, which includes all of the Pacific ACP States). Executive
authority is vested in a 36-member council, elected according to a four-year cycle.

The council is also the primary legislative organ of the Authority. To ensure a balance of interests, the
council is divided into five chambers, representing:

 major consumers of the metals derived from seabed minerals;

 major investors in seabed mining;
 major net exporters of the metals derived from seabed minerals;
 special interests (including small island developing states, states with large populations, and land-
locked and geographically disadvantaged states); and
 a chamber elected on the basis of equitable geographic distribution.

The council has two subsidiary bodies made up of experts elected in their personal capacity: a Legal and
Technical Commission and an Economic Planning Commission. Under the 1994 Agreement, the
functions of the Economic Planning Commission are to be carried out by the Legal and Technical
Commission until such time as commercial seabed mining begins. The primary functions of the Legal
and Technical Commission are to formulate the rules, regulations, and procedures for prospecting,
exploration, and exploitation, to review the performance of contractors with the Authority, and to advise
the council on matters related to protection of the marine environment from the harmful impacts of
mining.

The first Council of the Authority was elected by the Assembly at the second session of the Authority in
March 1996 (Composition of the Council table from 1996-2010).

In accordance with paragraph 15, of section 3, of the annex to the Agreement, the Council shall consist of
36 members elected by the Assembly in the following order:

 Four members from among those States Parties which, during the last five years for which
statistics are available, have either consumed more than 2 per cent in value terms of total world
consumption or have had net imports of more than 2 per cent in value terms of total world imports of the
commodities produced from the categories of minerals to be derived from the Area, provided that the four
members shall include one State from the Eastern European region having the largest economy in that
region in terms of gross domestic product and the State, on the date of entry into force of the Convention,
having the largest economy in terms of gross domestic product, if such States wish to be represented in
this group;
 Four members from among the eight States Parties which have made the largest investments in
preparation for and in the conduct of activities in the Area, either directly or through their nationals;
 Four members from among States Parties which, on the basis of production in areas under their
jurisdiction, are major net exporters of the categories of minerals to be derived from the Area, including at

10
 least two developing States whose exports of such minerals have a substantial bearing upon their
economies;
 Six members from among developing States Parties, representing special interests. The special
interests to be represented shall include those of States with large populations, States which are land-
locked or geographically disadvantaged, island States, States which are major importers of the categories
of minerals to be derived from the Area, States which are potential producers for such minerals and least
developed States;
 Eighteen members elected according to the principle of ensuring an equitable geographical
distribution of seats in the Council as a whole, provided that each geographical region shall have at least
one member elected under this subparagraph. For this purpose, the geographical regions shall be Africa,
Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean and Western Europe and Others.

As “the executive organ of the Authority”, the Council establishes specific policies in conformity with the
Convention and the general policies set by the Assembly.  It supervises and coordinates implementation
of the elaborate regime established by the Convention to promote and regulate exploration for and
exploitation of deep-sea minerals by States, corporations and other entities.  Under this system, no such
activity may legally take place until contracts have been signed between each interested entity and the
Authority.  The Council’s task is to draw up the terms of contracts, approve contract applications, oversee
implementation of the contracts, and establish environmental and other standards.  Its specific functions
include the following: 

It approves 15-year plans of work in the form of contracts, in which governmental and private entities
spell out the mining activities they intend to conduct in precisely defined geographical areas assigned to
them.It exercises control over activities in the Area, and supervises and coordinates implementation of the
seabed provisions of the Convention.

It adopts and applies provisionally, pending approval by the Assembly, the rules, regulations and
procedures by which the Authority controls prospecting, exploration and exploitation in the Area.   Its
initial set of regulations, adopted by consensus in 2000 and covering prospecting and exploration for
polymetallic nodules, is intended as the first part of a mining code that will eventually deal also with
exploitation and with other deep-sea mineral resources.  The Council has begun work on a second set of
regulations, concerning cobalt crusts and metal-bearing sulphides.

In cases where an environmental threat arises from seabed activities, it may issue emergency orders to
prevent harm, including orders to suspend or adjust operations.

It plays a role in various aspects of the regular functioning of the Authority, for example by proposing
candidates for Secretary-General, reviewing and recommending the Authority’s budget for approval by
the Assembly, and making recommendations to the Assembly on any policy matter.

The Council will also assume additional responsibilities once deep-sea mining commences in earnest. 
These include the issuance of directives to the Enterprise, action (including compensation) to protect
land-based mineral producers in the developing countries from adverse economic effects of seabed
production, and the establishment of mechanisms for a staff of inspectors who would ensure compliance
with the Authority’s regulations and contracts.

At its elections held on 24 July 2014, the Assembly elected the following members of the Council for a
four year period as from 1 January 2015, subject to the understandings reached in the regional and  interest
groups.

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 These are:

 Group A: Italy, Russian Federation

 Group B: France, Germany, Republic of Korea
 Group C: Austrailia, Chile
 Group D: Fiji, Jamaica, Lesotho
 Group E: Cameroon, Ghana, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Singapore, Tonga

1. The agreed allocation of seats on the Council is 10 seats to the African Group, 9 seats to the
Asian Group, 8 seats to the Western European and Others Group, 7 seats to the Latin American and
Caribbean Group and 3 seats to the Eastern European Group. Since the total number of seats allocated
according to that formula is 37, it is understood that, in accordance with the understanding reached in
1996 (ISBA/A/L.8), each region group other than the Eastern European Group will relinquish a seat in
rotation. The regional group which relinquishes a seat will have the right to designate a member of that
group to participate in the deliberations of the Council without the right to vote during the period the
regional group relinquishes the seat.
2. Italy would relinquish its seat in Group A in favour of the United States if the United States
became a member of the Authority; this does not prejudice the position of any country with respect to any
intervening election to the Council.
3. Germany is re-elected for a period of four years (2015 - 2018), on the understanding that Belgium
will occupy the seat in Group B for the year 2016.
4. Australia is re-elected for a period of four years (2015 - 2018), on the understanding that in 2017
it will relinquish its seat in Group C to Indonesia. Australia will be a member of Group E in 2017.
5. Chile is re-elected for a period of four years (2015 - 2018), on the understanding that in 2018 it
will relinquish its seat in Group C to Indonesia. Chile will be a member of Group E in 2018.
6. Indonesia is re-elected to the Council for a period of four years (2015 - 2018) on the
understanding that in 2017 it will relinquish its seat in Group E to Australia and will occupy the seat in
Group C relinquished by Australia, and in 2018 Indonesia will relinquish its seat in Group E to Chile and
will occupy the seat in Group C relinquished by Chile.

At its elections held on 21 July 2016, the Assembly elected the following members of the Council for a
four year period as from 1 January 2017, subject to the understandings reached in the regional and interest
groups.

These are:

 Group A:  China, Japan

 Group B:  India
 Group C:  Canada, South Africa
 Group D:  Bangladesh, Brazil, Uganda
 Group E:  Algeria, Argentina, Côte d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Norway, Panama,
Poland, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 

1. The agreed allocation of seats on the Council is 10 seats to the African Group, 9 seats to the
Asian Group, 8 seats to the Western European and Others Group, 7 seats to the Latin American and
Caribbean Group and 3 seats to the Eastern European Group. Since the total number of seats allocated
according to that formula is 37, it is understood that, in accordance with the understanding reached in
1996, each regional group other than the Eastern European Group will relinquish a seat in rotation. The
regional group which relinquishes a seat will have the right to designate a member of that group to

12
 participate in the deliberations of the Council without the right to vote during the period the regional
group relinquishes the seat.
2. The Netherlands is elected for a four-year term as a member of group E, on the understanding that
it will relinquish its seat after three years to Norway for the remainder of the four-year term (2020).
3. Spain is elected for a four-year term as a member of group E, on the understanding that it will
relinquish its seat after one year to Norway for the year 2018.
4. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is elected for a four-year term as a
member of group E, on the understanding that it will relinquish its seat after two years to Norway for the
year 2019.

CHAPTER-4

13
 THE FUNCTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY

Authority has been framed by the power bestowed under Article 136 of the UN Convention on the law of
the sea. Authority has been established to frame and formulate rules and regulations in legal framework
for the exploration of the deep sea metallic nodules present beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.

1. Environmental impact (Ecological considerations) of the sea in exploration activities of mineral

resources as well as the recovery of marine organisms in space and time.

2. Determination of area for exploration and making the exploration and ascertain that the exploration is
commercially viable. Impact on ocean column located above a mine site; and natural variability in deep-
ocean ecosystems over space and time.

3. Form of application for work plan.

4. Limits of national and international water of the world of oceans. Poly-metallic nodules are important
minerals present in the international seabed.

The seabed (or floor of the sea) contains non-living organic or inorganic solid, liquid or gaseous
substances which are potentially useful to man. The seabed is also rich in mineral resources known as
poly-metallic nodules in the form of reserves of metal present scattered loosely over the sea floor (Fig.
54.2).

They are called poly-metallic nodules because they possess nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese in
grades. There are number of factors that contribute to these poly-metallic nodules which possess rich
deposits of nickel, copper, cobalt-rich ferromanganese and fossil animals (Fig. 54.3).

14
In addition to these elements, geologists and biologists have also stated about the occurrence of poly-
metallic sulphides in the marine environment. Sulphides occur around hydrothermal vents sprouting from
volcanic areas of the seabed.

These mineral nodules have commercial viability. They appeared very competitive with the land-based
sources of such metal. It is felt that recovering them from seabed could yield substantial return to
investors. This resource is also useful for future development of nations.

The origin of marine metal and nonmetal, non-fuel minerals deposits present in ocean basin were
considered to be primarily derived from erosion of the continental rock and carried by the rivers to the sea
as solid minerals in the oceans, where they are converted poly-metallic nodules by the dissolved
chemicals. These poly-metallic nodules are located in the reserved area of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture
Zone (CCZ).

The survey has been made by six pioneer investors (UNO) and they concluded that billions of tons of
copper, manganese, cobalt and nickel are present in the zone. The present knowledge of these deposits
indicate that deposits are available at 3,000/4,000km below the ocean surface and extend to significant
depths in the sea.

The submerged mountains range about 60,000 km in the location of significant hydrothermal activity
which lead to the formation of mineral resources. It is suggested that recovering or mining from the depth
of up to 6 km from the ocean surface would not only be feasible but could yield substantial return to the
investor.

Sagar Nidhi, a Rs.232 crore vessel, is being used by Indian scientists to explore the mysteries that lie
below the sea. Using hydro sweep data the Sagar Nidhi has completed the survey of 150,000 sq. kms. The
chemical and biological parameters have been collected under The Board of Management of Poly-
metallic Nodules programme and the work is in progress.

15
 CHAPTER-5

CONCLUSION
The concept of the Area as a common heritage and ISA as an organization through which states
implement the development of the resources of the Area is one of the key innovations of the Convention
1982. Despite the ongoing debate about the applicability of the provisions of Part XI of the UNCLOS
that defines the framework for ISA's activities, it is evident today that all the coastal states in the
Arctic have expressed their commitment to the UNCLOS. At the same time, four of the five countries
(except the US) have already taken real action to the establishment of the outer limits of the extended
continental shelf and its delineation with the Area in the manner prescribed by the Convention. In this
situation, deviation from the conventional order will be associated with significant risks of an increase of
conflicts in the Arctic.

Even though the limits of the Area in the Arctic have not yet been determined and its time horizon of its
final form may stretch for decades, certain fields of the Authority’s future activities in the High North can
be traced. The role of ISA in the Arctic will be multifaceted. Its primary function is to regulate the
exploration and exploitation of seabed mineral resources beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.
However, scientific data on the reserves of the Arctic resources of the potential Area is currently scarce.
Besides, current technologies do not allow extracting resources from deep-sea seabed areas in the harsh
ice conditions of the Arctic.

Also, the Authority will be involved in the solution of other tasks. This concerns the implementation of
the provisions of the UNCLOS on the development of resources of the continental shelf beyond 200
nautical miles, participation in establishing international scientific cooperation, distribution of scientific
data, etc. Besides, in the mid-term, an important task of ISA is to participate in integrated cross-border
and cross-pectoral ecosystem marine management in the Arctic.

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