WOC Obeserver Status Approved

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) General Assembly on July 14th approved the World Ocean Council (WOC) as an official Observer.

Established by the Law of the Sea treaty, the ISA is the intergovernmental body which organizes, regulates and controls all mineral-related activities in the international seabed area of the world.

With formal ISA Observer status, the WOC further increases its ability to help ensure ocean business community presence in the key intergovernmental bodies and processes that determine ocean policy, planning and regulations affecting industry access and operations.

Deep seabed mining and nearshore mining will be the focus in several sessions at the WOC Sustainable Ocean Summit (SOS), Singapore, 9-11 November 2015.

For the big picture, the SOS 2015 plenary session “Ocean + 50: Ocean Industry Projections and the Future of the Ocean Economy” will include the latest predictions of marine mineral abundance and projected use.

In addition, parallel sessions at SOS 2015 include:

  • Marine Mining: Opportunities and Challenges for a New Ocean Industry;
  • Fisheries and Extractive Industries: Understanding the Interactions and Resolving the Conflicts.

The SOS 2015 will bring together a wide range of ocean industries, including: marine mining, shipping, oil and gas, fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, offshore renewable energy, ports, dredging, submarine cables, marine science/technology, biotechnology, the maritime legal, financial and insurance communities and others.