Home Subsea Activists’ game plan for deep sea mining ban turns up the heat on Allseas to cease its pursuits
June 21, 2024,
by
Melisa Čavčić
Switzerland-headquartered Allseas, an offshore pipeline installation, heavy lift, and subsea construction player, has been urged to abandon further technological development of giant mining machines due to the allegedly harmful consequences their use will have. As the momentum behind the calls for a ban on deep sea mining builds, the Dutch government is being asked to back the moratorium campaign.
Pioneering Spirit (for illustration purposes); Source: Allseas
As part of ongoing efforts to raise awareness about the damage deep sea mining undertakings can bring, eight activists from Greenpeace Netherlands changed the meter-high Allseas logo on the roof of the office to ‘Killseas‘ last week and hung a banner saying ‘Stop Deep Sea Mining: Protect the Wonders of the Deep Sea.’
The Swiss player is perceived to be the driving force behind deep-sea mining, building a vessel, which is believed to be the only deep-sea mining ship in the world. The firm is also working on the further technological development of big mining machines, as it is convinced that the energy transition puzzle requires pieces of metals and minerals, such as manganese, cobalt, nickel, and copper, to pick up the pace.
Given Allseas’ stand on deep sea mining, Greenpeace wants the company to immediately halt its activities in this arena, as it believes that such operations present a threat to one of the last untouched ecosystems in the world due to huge machines extracting metals and minerals from the bottom of the sea.
While highlighting that deep sea mining destroys the habitat of species on the ground, with dust, light, and noise disrupting a fragile ecosystem, the environmental group encouraged the Dutch government to join the growing group of countries advocating a moratorium on such activities with the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the UN body in charge of making decisions on deep sea mining in international waters.
Since scientists have warned that this mining form is causing serious and irreversible damage to life in the deep sea, Isabel Willemsen of Greenpeace Netherlands underlined: “It is not without reason that deep-sea mining is currently not permitted in international waters. The deep sea is very vulnerable and we hardly know what lives there.
“Recently, 5,000 new species were discovered in the area where Allseas wants to start mining. But the good news is: we can stop this industry before it starts. And ensure that this last piece of untouched wild nature is protected.”
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Posted: 5 months ago
While Pieter Heerema, Allseas’ President, and many players in this line of work argue that deep sea mining is necessary for electric car batteries, some research papers still note that developments in battery technology and recycling are happening so quickly that metals and minerals from the deep sea are not needed for the energy transition.