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After a recent major failure that resulted in a 25-tonne mining robot left stuck on the Pacific Ocean seafloor for days, Greenpeace International attached flags reading “Stop Deep Sea Mining” to the prototype robot, Patania II, in light of the environmentally destructive nature of this industry. Large scale deep sea mining would cause loss of species and habitats, and risks disrupting carbon storage in deep sea ecosystems.
Dr Sandra Schoettner, deep-sea biologist fro
m Greenpeace International on board the Rainbow Warrior, said:
“We took action again because GSR has restarted testing this heavy gear without even disclosing the damage it must have caused to the seafloor and no government is forcing them to do so. We are talking about a 25-tonne machine crashing on one of the worlds’ most fragile ecosystems. Governments like Germany, Belgium and the UK must take immediate action and stop the trials, or quit claiming to be global ocean champions. Deep sea mining has no pla
Deep-sea mining tests resume as lost robot rescued
Patania II had been operating at a depth of 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone an expanse of ocean between Hawaii and Mexico that’s as big as the continental US. (
Belgium’s Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR) has resumed tests that could lead to the mining of battery minerals from the Pacific Ocean floor after it managed to recover a robot stranded at a depth of thousands of metres.
The company reported on April 28 that its Patania II, a 25-tonne mining robot prototype, had uncoupled from a 5 km long (3.1 miles) cable connecting it to the surface.
Off to a rocky start: Deep-sea mining robot got stranded in the ocean during trials
The activity has been questioned by scientists and environmentalists and the problems just keep piling on.
Reset
It was supposed to be one of the world’s first tests for deep-sea mining a controversial activity fiercely debated by industrialists on one side, and environmentalists on the other. And, as many anticipated, it was a complete disaster.
A prototype deep-sea mining machine is now lying stranded on the Pacific Ocean floor after the device got detached from the cable linking it to the ship at the surface.
1419 Patania II, a 25-tonne seabed mining robot, is lowered into the Pacific Ocean to begin a descent to the sea floor, in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean, April 2021. GSR/Handout via REUTERS
A seabed mining robot being tested on the Pacific Ocean floor at a depth of more than 4 km (13,000 ft) has become detached, the Belgian company running the experimental trial said.
Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR), the deep-sea exploratory division of dredging company DEME Group, has been testing Patania II, a 25-tonne mining robot prototype, in its concession in the Clarion Clipperton Zone since April 20.
View from Patania II, a deep-sea mining robot trialled in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean, April 2021. GSR/Handout via REUTERS