SEABED COUNCIL CONTINUES WORK ON DRAFT MINING CODE

21 August 1998

Press Release
SEA/1596

SEABED COUNCIL CONTINUES WORK ON DRAFT MINING CODE

19980821 KINGSTON, 20 August (International Seabed Authority) -- As the Council of the International Seabed Authority continued its informal discussions on a draft mining code today, progress was made on the consideration of regulations 7 through 12 of the 33 regulations which provide for prospecting and exploration for polymetallic nodules.

Regulation 7, which has five paragraphs, deals with applications for approval of plans of work with respect to a reserved area; regulations 8 through 12 concern the content of these applications.

The discussion surrounding regulation 7 concerned the wording of some paragraphs. The President of the Council, Joachim Koch (Germany), said that since there was no fundamental disagreement on solutions, delegates could either submit their own recommendations or allow the Secretariat to make the modifications. There was little discussion on regulation 8, concerning "Form of applications", and regulation 9, dealing with "Certificate of sponsorship".

With regard to regulation 10, dealing with "Financial and technical capabilities", the debate centered around the suggestion of one delegation that pioneer investors should be required to give environmental guarantees to ensure that the financial resources would be available to cover the speedy repair of damage in the event of an ecological disaster. In support of the idea that contractors be obliged to obtain insurance coverage, one delegate cited the example of a fund administered by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), but felt this type of fund was not a substitute for insurance coverage.

The President referred to Annex 4, section 15, of the draft regulations dealing with responsibility and liability.

Paragraph 15.1 states: "The Contractor shall be liable for the actual amount of any damage, including damage to the marine environment, arising out of its wrongful acts or omissions, and those of its employees, sub- contractors, agents and all persons engaged in working or acting for them in the conduct of its operations under this contract, including costs of reasonable measures to prevent or limit damage to the marine environment, account being taken of any contributory acts or omissions by the Authority."

Paragraph 15.5 states: "The Contractor shall maintain appropriate insurance policies with internationally recognized carriers, in accordance with generally accepted international maritime practice."

Delegates felt that the substance of the clauses contained in section 15 of Annex 4 should be addressed in the main body of the mining code.

The draft text before the Council was submitted by the Authority's Legal and Technical Commission at the March 1998 session (document ISBA/4/C/4/Rev.1).

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