What the reporter found: When Marx started asking around, PNG representatives were surprised to learn that the ship was there at all. The ship’s operating company has yet to release any current permitting information that might indicate its true remit. Local PNG residents took particular issue with the news of the mining operation 20 miles offshore; local communities rely on subsistence fishing and see underwater mining operations as a threat to the health of the sea that sustains them.
The impact: As a result of Marx’s reporting, in late February the PNG government introduced new mining legislation that, for the first time, includes specific rules for deep-sea mining. The country’s Marine Scientific Research Committee, which comprises almost two dozen government entities, passed guidelines that will require future deep-sea-mining licenses to have committee approval. |
