International Seabed Authority

Why in news?

• A proposal has been made to mark the Atlantic slave trade pathways on maps and charts drawn by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) as a memorial to victims of slave trade.

About ISA

• International Seabed Authority is an autonomous international organization established under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1994.
• UNCLOS provides for a regime relating to minerals on the seabed outside any state's territorial waters or EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zones).
• International Seabed Authority (ISA) authorizes seabed exploration and mining and collect and distribute the seabed mining royalty.
• ISA has observer status in the United Nations Organisations

Members:

• It has 168 members and India is a member country.

Add ons:

• In September 2016, India signed a 15-year contract with the International Seabed Authority (ISA) for exploration of Poly-Metallic Sulphides (PMS) in the Indian Ocean.
• The 15-year contract formalised India's exclusive rights for exploration of PMS in the allotted area in the Indian Ocean.
• Polymetallic nodules (or manganese nodules) are rock concretions on the sea bottom formed of concentric layers of iron and manganese hydroxides around a core.
• As nodules can be found in vast quantities, and contain valuable metals, deposits have been identified as having economic interest.
• The floor of the world’s seas is scattered with vast beds of polymetallic nodules comprising copper, nickel, cobalt, manganese, iron and rare earth elements.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following statements:
1.International Seabed Authority was established by UNCLOS laws of the United Nations.
2.United States is a founding member of United Nations convention on Law of the Seas.
Which among the above statements is/are correct?
(a)1 only 
(b)2 only 
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to prelims question