Marine minerals and the International Seabed Area

Although the presence of minerals on the deep seabed was first discovered on the HMS Challenger expedition in 1873, it was not until the latter half of the twentieth century that their exploitation became technologically feasible. The regulation of deep seabed mining was addressed for the first time by the UN Seabed Committee and thereafter by delegates gathering at UNCLOS III to negotiate a new convention on the law of the sea. It was the issue that proved to be the most divisive at the Conference and despite protracted negotiations, participants were unable to achieve a compromise. However, further consultations taking place under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General succeeded where UNCLOS III had failed. When the Law of the Sea Convention finally entered into force in November 1994, the international regime for the deep seabed found in Part XI of the Convention was substantially modified by the Part XI Agreement that had been adopted by the UN General Assembly in July of that year. It is these two instruments that today provide the framework for the management of the International Seabed Area.

Under Part XI of the Law of the Sea Convention, the Area is designated as the common heritage of mankind and it is managed on behalf of the international community as a whole by an international organization called the International Seabed Authority.