Clarion News

In the depths of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii, trillions of potato-shaped rocks are scattered across the seabed - containing minerals such as nickel, cobalt and manganese vital for new green technologies in the global energy transition.In this ocean region - the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) - an abundance of the rocks, known as polymetallic nodules, is increasingly fuelling debate about the mining of metals needed to produce technology such as batteries for electric…

The International Seabed Authority will start accepting applications in July from companies that want to mine the ocean's floor, a decision that came after the U.N. body spent the past two weeks debating standards for the new and controversial practice.Deep-sea mining would extract cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese - key battery materials - from potato-sized rocks called "polymetallic nodules" on the ocean's floor at depths of 4 to 6 km (2.5 to 4 miles). They are abundant…

Norway's Loke Marine Minerals has acquired deep-sea mining firm UK Seabed Resources (UKSR) from Lockheed Martin, the companies said on Thursday.UKSR holds a 100% interest in two deep sea mineral licences in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the Pacific Ocean, and a 19.9% interest in the Ocean Mineral Singapore, licences issued by the International Seabed Authority (ISA)."We've got the approval from the UK government... Our ambition is to start extraction from 2030," Hans Olav Hide…

As companies race to expand renewable energy and the batteries to store it, finding sufficient amounts of rare earth metals to build the technology is no easy feat. That’s leading mining companies to take a closer look at a largely unexplored frontier – the deep ocean seabed.A wealth of these metals can be found in manganese nodules that look like cobblestones scattered across wide areas of deep ocean seabed. But the fragile ecosystems deep in the oceans are little understood…

The Metals Company (TMC) said Wednesday it had collected an initial batch of seafloor polymetallic nodules, and transported them up a 4km-long riser system to the surface in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean.TMC, the explorer of what it says is the world’s largest estimated undeveloped source of critical battery metals, said the move was a historic one, representing the first integrated system test conducted in the area since the 1970s."Having successfully completed…

The Metals Company (TMC) and Allseas have successfully completed the initial deep-water trials of the polymetallic nodule collector vehicle in the Atlantic Ocean, TMC said Thursday.To remind, back in March, The Metals Company (TMC), a company extracting battery metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, said it had together with its strategic partner and shareholder, Allseas, completed the deployment and wet-test commissioning of their pilot robotic nodule collector vehicle at the Port of Rotterdam…

Edward Heerema is founder and president of Allseas, which brought the world’s largest construction vessel, Pioneering Spirit, to the market. The company, which also brought innovation to the pipelay sector, has added its latest trick to Pioneering Spirit – its jacket lift system. But Allseas is also targeting deepsea mining and has its sights on the offshore wind market. Elaine Maslin caught up with Edward Heerema to find out more.The first time I met Edward Heerema was at the company’s offices in Delft, in the Netherlands.

The Metals Company (TMC), a company extracting battery metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, said Friday its subsidiary NORI had signed a non-binding term sheet with its strategic partner and shareholder, Allseas to develop and operate a commercial nodule collection system. The system has a targeted production capacity of 1.3 million tonnes per year of wet nodules and expected production readiness by Q4 2024.According to TMC, formerly knowns as DeepGreen Metals, polymetallic nodules contain high grades of nickel…

Marine minerals are coming under sharp focus offshore Norway. Analysts suggest it could be a $20 billion annual revenue industry by 2050, which is why many are taking an interest and developing the technology to make it happen. Marine mineral mining has been something of a slow burner in the wider marine world. It has some clear challenges, not least location and depth of these potential resources, but also concerns around its environmental impact.Yet it now appears to be coming into a distinctly sharp focus…

Greenpeace protested against deep-sea mining in the Pacific on Monday, with the environmental organization’s Rainbow Warrior boat trailing a ship doing research for DeepGreen, a company which plans to mine the seabed for battery metals.Greenpeace activists were pictured in rubber dinghies holding banners reading “Stop Deep Sea Mining!”, with the Maersk Launcher, a ship chartered by DeepGreen, in the background.The protest took place 900 nautical miles (1,036 miles) off Mexico’s western coast…

A Valaris drillship went adrift on Tuesday evening, breaking free from moorings near the port at Hunterston, North Ayrshire, Scotland.According to BBC, which was the first to report on the incident on Wednesday, "a major rescue operation has been ongoing overnight," when the 228 meters drillship, Valaris DS4, broke free and started drifting without power.According to the news agency, coastguard rescue teams, vessels, and a helicopter were dispatched to the scene, and no injuries have been reported.Offshore Engineer has reached out to Valaris and Maritime and Coastguard Agency, seeking more info. Valaris did not immediately respond. A…

Anyone who has been around the Offshore Oil and Gas or the Marine industries for long has heard of plans for mining various minerals located on or just below the seafloor. In fact, when Howard Hughes built the Glomar Explorer in 1972, the cover story for its true mission – recovering a Soviet submarine - was that the rig would be used to mine manganese nodules from the deep ocean floor. This cover story was so effective that it had the unintended consequence of stirring great interest in ocean mining among offshore companies and the general public.In the years since…

Mumbai and Nhava Sheva Ship Agents Association has drawn the attention of Mumbai Port Trust towards the shortage of dock workers and winch drivers that continues to adversely affects the vessel operations and if need be to outsource these activities. Shortage of workers at the port has been instrumental in prolonging the vessel stay at the port affecting the turnaround time to 4-5 days from around 2-3 days, thereby escalating the costs. As against the normal requirement of 4/5 gangs (workers) per vessel, the supply is only of 1/2 gangs. In fact, the port had invited applications for awarding stevedoring licenses to the private operators in light of the heavy shortage of labour, but the progress of this initiative is yet to be ascertained.

A recent decision by an international tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, has significant implications for other maritime disputes, freedom of navigation, and future oil and gas claims in the Arctic. The arbitral award issued on July 12, 2016, by a unanimous five-member panel or Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the dispute between the Philippines and China over rocks and elevations in the South China Sea, sounded a clarion call for the rule of law and the clearly defined…

A subsidiary of Singaporean conglomerate Keppel Corp Ltd said it signed a 15-year contract with the International Seabed Authority to search the ocean for scarce minerals. The push to explore the ocean is gaining momentum as ore grades on land decline and demand grows for metals in high-tech applications. Ocean Mineral Singapore Pte Ltd (OMS) said it would conduct environmental studies and surveys for deposits of polymetallic nodules, which contain copper, nickel, cobalt and manganese, along with rare earth minerals, at a site within the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, located between Hawaii and Mexico, of the Pacific Ocean. OMS is majority owned by Keppel, while a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin and private investment company Lion City Capital Partners are minority shareholders.

Ocean Mineral Singapore Pte Ltd (OMS) has entered into a 15-year exploration contract for polymetallic nodules at a site within the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone of the Pacific Ocean with the International Seabed Authority (ISA). Sponsored by the Singapore Government, OMS is the first Singaporean company to be awarded an exploration contract for polymetallic nodules. The contract signing ceremony took place between Mr Nii Allotey Odunton, Secretary-General of the ISA and Mr Ong Ye Kung, Director of OMS, and was witnessed by Guest-of-Honour, Mr Masagos Zulkifli Bin Masagos Mohamad, Minister, Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs, as well as Ambassador Tommy Koh, Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large, and Mr Loh Chin Hua, CEO of Keppel Corporation.

Ocean Mineral Singapore Pte. Ltd. (OMS) has received approval from the International Seabed Authority (ISA) on its application for its first seabed exploration licence. Over the next few months, OMS will work with ISA to finalise the terms of contract for the award of the licence. The licence will allow exploration for polymetallic nodules at a site within the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone of the Pacific. OMS is a Singapore-incorporated company majority owned by Keppel Corporation, with UK Seabed Resources Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based Lockheed Martin UK Holdings Ltd, and Singapore-based private investment company Lion City Capital Partners Pte. Ltd., as minority shareholders.

At its Annual General Meeting in New Orleans last week, members of WISTA USA (Women’s International Shipping &Trading Association) were urged to support investment in infrastructure projects in order to maintain and grow the transportation of waterborne commerce in the United States. From U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-La.) to Spencer Murphy of Canal Barge Company, Rick Calhoun of Cargill, Gary LaGrange of the Port of New Orleans, Joel Dupre of Southern Recycling and Colonel Richard Hansen of the U.S.

The world's first deep sea mining robot sits idle on a British factory floor, waiting to claw up high grade copper and gold from the seabed off Papua New Guinea (PNG) - when a wrangle over terms is solved. Beyond PNG, in international waters, regulation and royalty terms for mining the planet's subsea wealth have also yet to be finalised. The world waits for the judgement of a United Nations agency based in Jamaica. "If we can take care of the environment we have a brand new day ahead of us.

Boston Whaler debuts cutting-edge new 285 Conquest Pilothouse. With Boston Whaler’s landmark release of the 285 Conquest Pilothouse, the boatbuilder firmly establishes itself as an industry leader in boating innovation. state-of-the-art integrated windshield-hardtop system, aft bulkhead with door, and a fullyenclosed, weather-protected helm, the 285 Conquest Pilothouse offers unprecedented comfort and cover from the elements. “The 285 Conquest Pilothouse represents a bold step forward for Boston Whaler,” said Ron Berman, Boston Whaler’s vice president of product development and engineering.

IMS introduces the deep digging Depth Master 55 (DM-55TM) as the latest addition to is dredge product line. The DM-55TM is IMS's solution to making deep maintenance dredging and environmental dredging affordable. "Over the years we have received hundreds of inquiries from ports and environmental contractors wanting to dredge deeper, but they simply could not afford to get a multi-million dollar machine and have resorted to ineffective pumps on wires and water injection vessels that don't create an even bottom profile," says IMS Division President, Jim Horton. "The DM-55TM solves this issue.

Pride International recently dedicated its ABS-classed deepwater drillship Deep Ocean Clarion at Samsung Heavy Industries Shipyard in Geoje, South Korea. This is the second of four new drillships for the deepwater drilling contractor. Its sister ship, the ABS-classed Deep Ocean Ascension was delivered in February 2010 and has been deployed to the Gulf of Mexico. The 96,000 dwt Deep Ocean Clarion is capable of dual drilling activity and can drill in water depths of up to 12,000 feet.

On August 26 Cal Maritime received and installed a massive 18-ton, 18-ft wide brass ship’s propeller which for many years was a landmark of San Francisco’s downtown business district. For several decades, the entrance to the San Francisco office building at 100 Spear Street has been graced by an eye-catching display … a highly-polished brass ship propeller. This 18-ton piece of “commercial art” was a natural, as the building was home to many offices of ocean carriers serving the West Coast. With industry consolidation, the number of maritime-related offices in the building dwindled.