This is a science fiction drawing. But how far is reality from these invented images? Little. Underwater military bases, from which we can control what happens on land, was an idea of writers who have become real projects since World War II (in the United States, the Soviet Union, France and the United Kingdom)[1]. There are several today, and it is obviously difficult to read them – with a few exceptions concerning the American, French and English bases. While the French bases are close to the large military ports and have been built at water level[2], the others are the result of great technological and economic efforts.
Since we are dealing with the holders of seabed use permits, this issue becomes very topical as these concessions have hardly ever been granted to the mining industry, but rather directly to national governments (which do not declare their use) or to companies that use the sea floor for various reasons (including military). The British base called BUTEC (British Underwater Test and Evaluation Center) is located 200 meters deep at the exit of a fjord in the north of Scotland and measures 10 x 6 km[3] – a towering and menacing infrastructure that does not belong not to the military, but to a 100% privatized company whose shareholders are mutual funds[4]: the QinetiQ group, based in Farnborough, which for decades has produced the models used by cinema for James Bond films[5] and, in addition to running this base, has also been trading military technology for over 20 years earning £ 1 billion annually[6].
The company (this may surprise you), however, has fairly close management ties to the CIA[7] and so far has only proven to be dangerous when you’ve worked in a prominent position for years and then are sick of it and have decided to dedicate yourself to rock climbing – like former chief engineer David Sharp, who died under mysterious circumstances in the Himalayas[8]. On the other hand, the Americans have built their base in the Bahamas, the AUTEC (Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center), which deals with the control of airspace and maritime space, but also guard and the development of espionage, military and the application of physics to gravity[9], funded annually by the Department of Defense[10], which owns the infrastructure (through the Navy). At least in this case, the purely military function is not obscured by complicated corporate relations…
Map of licenses for the use of polymetallic nodules in the Indian Ocean[11]
The analysis of the gigantic seabed mining project could not be covered in a single text. We have already described the history of this activity and the damage it has caused to the environment, and now on to the more difficult part: removing the ambiguity of companies approved by the International Seabed Authority ISA. The two main groups, The Metals Company and Allseas, which we will discuss in later texts, are too complex for this first text … For the moment we will content ourselves with describing the other companies, their experimental vehicles, with what they are starting to test the dredging methods[12].
Officially, the ISA has issued the following 31 licenses: a) Joint Interoceanmetal Organization; b) YMG Yuzhmorgeologiya AO; (c) Government of South Korea; (d) China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association; e) Deep Ocean Resources Development Company Ltd.; f) French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea; (g) Government of India; h) Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources in Germany; i) Nauru Ocean Resources Inc.; j) Tonga Offshore Mining Ltd.; k) GSR Global Sea Mineral Resources NV; l) UK Seabed Resources Ltd.; m) Marawa Research and Exploration Ltd.; n) Ocean Mineral Singapore Pte. Ltd. ; o) Cook Islands Investment Company; p) China Minmetals Corporation; q) Beijing Pioneer Hi-Tech Development Corporation; r) Government of the Russian Federation; (s) Government of Poland; t) JOGMEC Japan Oil Gas and Metals National Corporation; u) China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association of COMRA; v) CPMR Companhia de Pesquisa de Recursos Minerais SA Brasilia; w) Blue Minerals Jamaica Ltd. Kingston[13]. In reality, they are much less so because some of these acronyms are the same shareholders.
Wspólna Organizacja Interoceanmetal Szczecin
It is the oldest consortium on the list of ISA concessions[14], which was established in 1987 at the initiative of the government of the Soviet Union. It includes the USSR, East Germany, Poland (headquarters of the organization), Cuba, Bulgaria, Vietnam and Czechoslovakia[15]. After the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the division of Czechoslovakia, the latter member was replaced by the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and the USSR by the Russian Federation. Vietnam and the GDR have abandoned the consortium[16], which is headed by a council on which the respective energy ministers of the member states sit[17].
These should be purely political positions, but they are not. The current Bulgarian Energy Minister, Valery Trendafilov[18], had a commodity trading company in the UK, Mexbury Ltd. Pinner, between 2010 and 2012[19]. As for Cuba, where there are no refineries working with Interoceanmetal, the government, with funds from the Ministry of Energy, led by engineer Juan Ruiz Quintana[20], supports the consortium composed of two private companies: GWL and Spec Partners[21].
Gold found by NOAA at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean[22]
Interoceanmetal’s head office in Szczecin is owned by another industrial company, PTO Polskie Towarzystwo Oceanotechniki[23] (Polish marine technology company), which has no relationship with Interoceanmetal[24] – except for Tomasz Abramowski, professor of history of the navigation to the University of Szczecin[25], which as CEO of Interoceanmetal and member of the Board of PTO[26].
Behind the PTO there is not the state, but a multinational mining company, KGHM Polska Miedź SA Lublin[27], which received the funds for research, analysis and preparation for exploitation by the state, then took over the concession via the PTO: not only to search for manganese, nickel and cobalt as provided for in the agreement signed by Interoceanmetal, but also gold and silver[28]. These minerals are present (according to the American partner NOAA) in considerable quantities at great depths, in the area of the Black Canyon in the Atlantic[29] or, as Nautilus Minerals had discovered before the bankruptcy, in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea[30].
The exploration license, which covers an area of 75,000 km2 in the CCZ (Clarion-Clipperton zone) of the Pacific Ocean, was granted in 1997 and has been renewed several times since[31]. In 2017, ISA and Interoceanmetal signed an agreement to use the property’s fields[32] of polymetallic nodules (manganese, nickel, copper, molybdenum, cobalt and zinc[33]). This means that if Interoceanmetal deemed it likely that it was mining gold and silver, it would do so in flagrant violation of its contract with ISA. Another questionable aspect has to do with the fact that the signatories of the treaties are nations – not only as sponsors, as the ISA claims[34], but also as project administrators[35]. However, they are not the beneficiaries, at least in the case of Poland and Cuba, as the use of the Interoceanmetal license is carried out by private companies: KGHM Polska, GWL and Spec Partners.
Spec Partners Ltd. Bedford
The Cuban government participates in the Interoceanmetal consortium which obtained its ISA license through a private company (Spec Partners Limited) which has nothing to do with Cuba as it is based in Oslo (from the former director of TGS -Nopec and GGS Global Geo Services Trond Christoffersen), headed by an office in London (by the former director of Halliburton, TGS-Nopec and Global Geo Services, Glyn F. Roberts) and an office in Singapore (by the petroleum engineer Charles R. Ramsden)[36].
Despite promises of billionaire projects, Spec Partners did not make any revenue and ended 2019 with a loss of almost £ 750,000[37], which under current contracts is to be written off by the majority shareholder Papper Invest AS Oslo[38]. The latter company, founded by Trond Christoffersen and Morten Andersen (chairman and managing director of GGS Global Geo Services[39]), is not registered in the Norwegian commercial register (it is therefore offshore and inactive anyway[40]) but holds 0.82% shares of GGS[41].
Spec Partners made headlines in 2015 by sponsoring a massive project called GWL Geology Without Limits[42], which involves mining the seabed in the territorial waters of any country that affects the Caribbean Sea. On this project, Spec is teaming up with an obscure company run by a holding company called Geofisicos Marinos Ltd. Belize City[43] is controlled by: GWL Technologies LLP Sheffield (initially called MGAI[44]). The Belize company then shared control of GWL with Projectos Ecologicos Ltd. Belize City[45] – the owners of both companies are of course unknown. Based on the names and management, we can only assume that they are part of the GWL group.
Oil production projects in the Eastern Mediterranean according to studies presented in 2012[46]
In fact, the two Central American companies were founded in 2016 by Global Geophysical Research NA Limited Limassol[47] and Projectos Ecologicos Ltd. Limassol[48] replaced him after less than a year, changed its name to GWL Overseas Ltd. Limassol[49] – Two Cypriot companies, so we only know members of the management[50], of which it is clear that these companies belong to Geology Without Limits Ltd. Horsham[51] (United Kingdom). This holding was founded in 2016 by Egor Krasinskiy[52], one of the directors of YMG[53].
Despite the promises of billionaire contractors, this company achieved no turnover[54] and was liquidated in October 2020[55] and replaced in its holding function by SkAIPatrol AB Fränsta (Sweden) under the management of Swedish freestyle champion[56] Lotten Kristina Rapp[57] – but the names of the shareholders were changed undisclosed for this new company[58].
The GWL-Spec alliance is not linked to Cuba, but to a private company developed by the Russian executives of YMG and the Norwegian executives of GGS – an industrial and technological entity which is headquartered from Belize to Cyprus and Cyprus. over the years then moved to the UK, and from here to Sweden last year. The operation has so far been void. The Cuban government is therefore paying for a project from which it will never reap benefits – at least if this structure was previously hidden in tax havens, it is finally emerging on the surface.
Back to Spec Partners Ltd.: This company had tried before the start of the project in the Caribbean, in collaboration with other partners (ION Geophysical – USA; TGS-NOPEC – Norway; Dolphin Geophysical and Petroleum Geo-Services – Norway; CGG Veritas – France; Spectrum Geo Ltd. – United Kingdom; Fugro Multiclient Services – Holland), fought for the rights to extract oil from the Aegean Sea in Greek territorial waters[59]. The attempt was unsuccessful: the concession was later awarded to a consortium made up of ENI, Total, Repsol, HHRM Hellenic Petroleum and ExxonMobil and is currently at the center of a major environmental struggle led by WWF which was caused by an environmental disaster almost caused the extinction of flora and fauna in this region of the Mediterranean[60].
The Caribbean area where GWL and Spec Partners would like to obtain seabed exploitation licenses from each neighboring country[61]
YMG Yuzhmorgeologiya AO and the Russian Government
Within the framework of the consortium formation agreements for mining, the Russian Federation is part of the Eastern European group and has been a member of the ISA since March 12, 1997[62]. To participate in the daily activities of the ISA, the Russian Federation opened an embassy in Jamaica in June 2016, currently headed by Vladimir Vinokurov and Sergey Tarasov[63]. Prior to his posting to Kingston, Vladimir Nikolaevich Vinokurov[64] was Russian Ambassador to Laos (1982-1984 then 1990-1995) to the United States (1998-2002) and Consul General in San Francisco between 2007 and 2013[65].
In March 2016, he was appointed Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Jamaica and at the same time to the Commonwealth of Dominica, the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda and the Permanent Representative of Russia to the International Seabed Authority in Kingston[66]. A permanent commission works in the premises of the embassy, comprising diplomatic staff, Valery Yubko (geologist at YMG) and Yuri Kazmin (director of the oil industry of Severneftegas)[67].
The main concession granted to a Russian partner is that of YMG[68] – or Yuzhmorgeology in Moscow, which was established as one of the main research and production departments of the Rosgeologia AO Moscow group, having more than 65 years of experience in the geological exploration and is now one of the most modern companies in the world in gravimetric and magnetometric technology as well as in the development of unmanned underwater vehicles[69]. YMG, on the other hand, was born in 1973 as an industry of Rosgeologia and turned into an independent company in September 2016[70].
Since then, the shareholder of YMG has been the Federal Agency for State Property Management and is headed by Egor Mikhaylovich Krasinskiy and Maksim Yuryevich Bogdanov[71]. Egor Krasinskiy is also the managing director of another state-owned company engaged in geophysical prospecting and exploration of offshore oil and gas fields – SoyuzMorGeo AO Krasnodar[72]. The company has signed numerous contracts with the Russian government, YMG and affiliates of Gazprom, Lukoil, Rosneft[73] and others[74].
The seabed mining project dates back to 1980 when YMG was the first company to identify and delineate a deposit of various metals in the Clarion-Clipperton Basin (CCZ)[75]. In the following years, YMG obtained a drilling license in the Gulf of Panama[76]. The CCZ zone exploration permit was signed with ISA in 2001. Since 2014, the YMG project has been under the control of the Federal Authority for the use of the metro (Rosnedra). The following year, Rosnedra signed a second 15-year contract with ISA, involving the exploitation of the cobalt-manganese crusts identified in the Magellan Mountains exploration area in the Pacific Ocean[77].
Top right, the area of the oil production license assigned to YMG in the Gulf of Panama[78]
YMG is part of several industrial and mining development cooperation consortia, including ISA, NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of Washington DC, Department for Joint Scientific Projects of India and Institute for Marine Geology of the Ministry of geology of the People’s Republic. of China, University of Hamburg, University of Bologna, Korea Institute for Marine Research and Development, Spec Partners Ltd. Bedford (which, as we have already explained, acts on behalf of the Cuban government), Kaspy Shipping Service Llp (Kazakhstan) and Geotech AB (Sweden)[79]. Another cooperation agreement, signed in 2019 with the Polish Interoceanmetal (IOM) consortium Spoo Szczecin, sent a research vessel, the Gelendzhik, to perform seabed analyzes in the CCZ area for industrial use[80].
In addition, YMG is working on several small projects of local interest[81], including a mining contract signed with Tatweer Petroleum Bahrain Field Development Company WLL of Manama[82]. Tatweer Petroleum is the operating company of the State of Bahrain, which is engaged in the exploration and exploitation of gas and oil fields in the territory and in the national territorial waters and is 100% controlled by the Bahrain National Oil and Gas Authority via the NOGA WLL Manama holding[83]. It is no coincidence that YMG is involved in most of the gas and oil production projects of the Gazprom group in the territorial waters of different countries[84].
GSR Global Sea Mineral Resources NV Oostende
Belgium has been awarded a concession for the use of the seabed by GSR Global Sea Mineral Resources NV Oostende, which heads a consortium called Deep Sea Mining Alliance eV Hamburg, which is mainly made up of German companies, most of which focus on the construction of platforms for offshore Specialized in the drilling and construction of submarine pipelines[85]. At the head of this consortium are the engineer Johannes Post[86], specialized in the development of underwater mechanics for almost 50 years, and the adviser of the Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy, Michael Jarowinsky[87].
GSR is part of the DEME group (Dredging, Environmental & Marine Engineering)[88], which as the name suggests deals with dredging, environmental and marine technology – and therefore is the company that deals with underwater work from the multinational mechanical company Ackermans & Van Haaren, which is also one of the largest manganese producers in the world[89]. The two minority shareholders are Deeptech NV Oostende, which is definitively owned by DEME and is headed by DEME director Els Verbraecken[90], and a consulting firm, which has since been discontinued. A consortium which wants to hide the interest of German industry, but which is at least a consortium of companies active in the mining industry.
KSS Kaspy Shipping Service TOO Shymkent
Kaspy Shipping Service TOO Shymkent (KSS) is one of the main partners of Interoceanmetal and YMG: it is YMG, which is responsible for all geological analyzes and assessments, excavation work and drilling preparations for the mining concessions, which the KSS has in Kazakh territory and in the waters of the Caspian Sea[91]. It is a company of only 5 employees[92] which was founded in 2010[93] and which has signed a multi-year contract with Neftegaz for the production of oil in the Caspian Sea[94]. The main activity of the company is the rental of marine vehicles and equipment[95]. The owner is a mysterious Kazakh by the name of Vakhid Aslan “Ogly” Khankishiev[96], owner of numerous offshore shipping companies designated by several vessels, most of which are engaged in passenger transport or fishing[97].
One of these ships, the Aktau, is registered in the name of Khankishiev[98] and is used in the Caspian Sea as an oil tanker[99] and as an auxiliary vessel for Yuzhmorgeologya mining research[100]. Another, the fishing vessel Morion (which changed its name to Turtle eight years ago), is owned by Vakhid Khankishiev and Tatiana Aleksandrovna Tolmatchiova[101] and is stationed in the Russian port of the Caspian Sea (Astrakhan)[102] after its confiscation in 2012 – and its name change. Due to its poor condition[103] and the alleged illegal transport and disposal of toxic waste from the cement and coal industries in the city of Shymkent and heavily polluted areas north of the Caspian Sea, the company is involved in criminal lawsuits[104].
The investigation, of which we are awaiting delivery of official documents, is linked to the privatization of the port of Astrakhan (AMP Astrakhanskiy Morskoy Port AO Astrakan)[105] and of the company that manages its services, PAO Astrakhanskiy Port OOO Astrakan[106]. The port was state-owned until 2016[107], when it was sold to five private companies: Sovfracht AO Moscow[108] (logistics company of the food chain Transcapital OOO Moscow[109], 51.17%), Elena Anatolyevna Ivanova ( Moscow University professor[110], 13.39%), Rollins Investments SA Tortola[111] (which belongs to Estonian logistics group Bolt AS Tallinn[112] via CFO Tatiana Popova[113], 15.41%) and financial company New Trans OOO Moscow[114] (6.55 %). The rest of the shares (13.48%) were blocked by Russian authorities on suspicion of money laundering[115].
The construction sites of the port of Solyanka near Astrakhan, the sale of which has been blocked by the Russian justice
Instead, the state held a stake in PAO (25.5%) and sold the rest to the trustee NRK Nezavisimayaregistratorskaya Kompaniya AO Moscow (21.44%) and Iranian shipping line IKSS WLL Gilan, which operates through the intermediary of NRK (which on behalf of a subsidiary) of IKSS, which negotiates Azoress Shipping Company Wll Abu Dhabi) receives the absolute majority of the company[116]. The sale was immediately blocked because IKSS is on the blacklist of Iranian military industries affected by the OFAC embargo[117]. The shares were then transferred to Nasim Bahr Kish Wll Tehran[118], who had already bought another small port on the Volga[119], but these two transactions were also blocked by the Russian justice[120]. The dispute is not yet resolved.
Besides the sensitivity of the subject of the mix between industrial and military interests of Iran in the Caspian Sea, various suspicions weigh on the history of the port of Astrakhan – in particular after the accident of the Iranian ship “Nazhmer” in October 2018 as a result of which three sailors infected with radioactive waste illegally transported from this ship died in a hospital in Baku[121].
The incident is part of the analysis of experts at the University of Tehran, who have for years investigated the serious pollution of the oil and nuclear industry in the Caspian Sea[122]. Vakhid Khankishiev also owns 60% of OOO Kaspij EkoGeo Shipping Astrakan, of which 40% is controlled by Oleg Petrovich Kotov, who is also CEO of the company[123] and owner of a supermarket in Almaty (OOO Votok), Kazakhstan[124]. Kaspij EkoGeo Shipping could also be involved in the toxic waste disposal investigation.
Gazprom’s marine projects, almost all in collaboration with YMG[125]
In any case, the contracts signed between ISA and Interoceanmetal, between ISA and Spec Partners, between ISA and Yuzhmorgeologya and between ISA and Kaspy Shipping have the common point that behind each of these units there is the existence of Gazprom, as well as the impression that the scope of this company’s exploration is not limited to the minerals specified in the contracts, but suggests a future engagement in the exploitation of oil and gas fields, as the Russian industry has no other interest in mining than fuels[126].
Gazprom is probably most interested in finding a new system for the disposal of toxic waste at sea, as it is the third most polluting company in the world and alone responsible for 3.91% of the global atmospheric pollution[127]. This does not exclude the possibility of one day pumping gas and oil from the bottom of the oceans: the technologies that would be necessary for such a complex engagement are currently being tested in the wells made by Gazprom in Russia in the territorial waters of the Arctic Sea[128].
There are other direct links between Gazprom and these consortia: Egor Krasinskiy, one of the directors of YMG[129], is also the founder of GWL and Spec Partners[130]. The vessel used for exploration and surveying by the Interoceanmetal consortium, the “Gelendzhik”, is owned by YMG Yuzhmorgeologya[131]. The ship takes its name from the city of the same name, a Black Sea port in Krasnodar Oblast, where the headquarters of YMG and OOO Soliton, another company from the Rosgeologia department of several independent companies are located after the years of perestroika between them, but still controlled by the parent company[132].
Soliton, today one of the most advanced geophysical and research companies for oil fields on land and at sea[133], has projects underway around the world, many of them deep in the oceans (in regions of Hadal) from the Barents Sea, Indian and Pacific Ocean[134], and one of its main partners is Gazprom[135]. One of Rosgeologia’s ships with Soliton’s men and equipment, the “Professor Logachev” is the ship used by the personnel of the CCZ Exploration and Exploration Concession[136], which the ISA has assigned directly to the Government of Russian Federation[137].
UK Seabed Resources Ltd. Langstone
On May 4, 2012, Lockheed Martin founded UK Holdings Ltd. Langstone (100% subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Global Inc. Bethesda, Maryland[138]) UK Seabed Resources in London with a capital of £ 1[139], which will increase to £ 1 million on July 3, 2014[140]. UK Seabed Resources has received two licenses to explore two CCZ zones in 2013[141], which will remain in effect until the end of 2031[142]. This UK government funded exploration work[143] resulted in the publication of a report on mining opportunities in these two zones in December 2018[144].
To these two licenses, a third Singapore-funded license[145] was added in January 2015 to Ocean Mineral Singapore (Pte) Ltd. Singapore[146] has obtained, controlled by UK Seabed Resources 19.9% of the capital since 2013[147]. According to ISA documents[148], the majority of the shares are held by Keppel Corporation Ltd. Singapore controls – a multinational mining and oil company based in Singapore[149]. Seabed Resources Development Ltd. owns another stake in Ocean Mineral Langstone, which is also 100% owned by the Lockheed Martin group[150]. The extent of this additional stake held indirectly by the US military industry is not known to us: Seabed Resources Development was created with the aim of hiding a large number of offshore holdings that the Lockheed Martin group is not happy to disclose his knowledge[151].
The working and business relationship between the Keppel Group and the Lockheed Martin Group was detailed in a recent assignment by a staff member, led by Louisa Casson, for Greenpeace International[152]. In any case, the spontaneous question arises as to why an arms factory would want to participate in a mining project at the bottom of the oceans. Not that Lockheed Martin doesn’t need metal parts for planes and other products from its factories – but these are parts that the company typically already purchases from various related companies highly specialized in manufacturing special parts.
On its official website, the Lockheed group declares that it wants to participate in a great scientific adventure, within the framework of a partnership agreement with the British Department of Economic Affairs, Energy and Industrial Strategy[154]. The only explanation we could find brings us to the tasks of the 39th Regiment of the Royal Engineers Corps – a unique department in the world, extremely specialized, responsible, among other things, for the planning of submarine military bases[155] – one thing that is possible: present it as a mining base and not as a military base[156]. One of the regimental partners is Walker Diving Underwater Construction Llc Hammonton, New Jersey, who specializes in the United States and specializes in the construction and maintenance of underwater structures. It is clear that all this makes us rethink the AUTEC and BUTEC submarine military bases…
[1] https://www.segnidalcielo.it/oltre-larea-51-la-us-navy-e-in-possesso-di-una-base-segreta-sottomarina/
[3] https://www.ltpa.co.uk/SitesAndRanges/BUTEC ; https://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst10048.html
[4] https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/QINETIQ-GROUP-PLC-9590216/company/
[5] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7108248.stm
[6] 2020.12.31 QinetiQ Group Plc Farnborough; 2020.03.31 QinetiQ Ltd. Farnborough
[7] https://web.archive.org/web/20071127103148/http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article1927199.ece
[8] 2006.06.03 The death of David Sharp; 2006.05.29 The death of David Sharp; https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/on-everest-you-are-never-on-your-own-words-of-the-climber-left-to-die-at-summit-479630.html
[9] https://web.archive.org/web/20070903215346/http://www.npt.nuwc.navy.mil/autec/esm01.htm ; https://web.archive.org/web/20070825022704/http://www.npt.nuwc.navy.mil/autec/wr.htm
[10] https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2064381//
[11] https://craigrsmithlab.com/past-research/
[12] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/01/20000-feet-under-the-sea/603040/
[13] https://www.isa.org.jm/index.php/deepdata
[14] https://www.isa.org.jm/index.php/exploration-contracts/interoceanmetal-joint-organization
[15] https://iom.gov.pl/iom-story/
[16] https://iom.gov.pl/iom-story/
[17] https://iom.gov.pl/organization/ ; https://iom.gov.pl/iom-council-members/
[18] https://iom.gov.pl/iom-council-members/
[19] https://opencorporates.com/companies/gb/07304542
[20] https://iom.gov.pl/iom-council-members/
[21] http://www.specpartners.net/files/GWL_Pan-Caribe_2015.pdf
[22] https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/gold.html
[23] Polskie Towarzystwo Oceanotechniki Szczecin
[24] 2020.10.26 Wspólna Organizacja Interoceanmetal Szczecin
[25] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tomasz_Abramowski
[26] https://iom.gov.pl/our-people/
[27] https://www.wprost.pl/kraj/446144/Mineraly-za-20-40-mld-dol-na-Pacyfiku-Polska-ma-koncesje.html
[28] https://kghm.com/en/about-us/our-sector
[29] https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/gold.html
[30] https://www.mining.com/worlds-first-seabed-mine-to-begin-production-in-2019/
[31] https://iom.gov.pl/exploration-licence/
[32] https://iom.gov.pl/exploration-licence/
[33] https://iom.gov.pl/resources/
[34] https://isa.org.jm/files/files/documents/isacont-update.pdf
[35] https://iom.gov.pl/organization/
[36] http://www.specpartners.net/aboutus.html
[37] 2019.12.31 Spec Partners Ltd. Bedford
[38] 2016.01.26 Spec Partners Ltd. Bedford, page 5
[39] https://www.spectrumgeo.com/documents/presentations/Prospectus_060929.pdf, page 31-32
[40] Papper Invest AS Oslo
[41] https://www.spectrumgeo.com/documents/presentations/Prospectus_060929.pdf, page 60; https://finansavisen.no/nyheter/boers-finans/2006/07/innsidernes-kjoep-og-salg2
[42] http://www.specpartners.net/files/GWL_Pan-Caribe_2015.pdf
[43] 2011.04.12 GWL Technologies LLP Sheffield, page 3
[44] http://www.specpartners.net/files/GWL_Pan-Caribe_2015.pdf
[45] 2013.04.21 GWL Technologies LLP Sheffield, page 3
[46] https://aea-al.org/greece-presents-hydrocarbon-treasure-potential/southeastern-mediterranean-energy-developments/
[47] 16.08.13 GWL Technologies LLP Sheffield
[48] 2016.01.01 GWL Technologies LLP Sheffield
[49] 2018.02.17 GWL Technologies LLP Sheffield
[50] Global Geophysical Research N.A. Ltd. Limassol; GWL Overseas Ltd. Limassol
[51] https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikolay-amelin-1740561b/?originalSubdomain=se
[52] 2016.02.03 Geology Without Limits Ltd. Horsham
[53] https://www.rosgeo.com/subdivision/ymg/#popup-person-enterprise-1904
[54] 2018.02.28 Geology Without Limits Ltd. Horsham
[55] 2020.10.20 Geology Without Limits Ltd. Horsham
[56] https://www.freeskiworld.com/index.php/snowpark-new-hampshire/itemlist/tag/lotten%20rapp.html ; https://www.linkedin.com/in/lottenrapp/ ; https://lottenrapp.se/
[57] https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=it&sl=sv&u=https://www.merinfo.se/foretag/SkAIpatrol-AB-5592502594/2khmqma-200ia&prev=search
[58] https://foretagsfakta.bolagsverket.se/fpl-dft-ext-web/produktInformation.xhtml?cid=1
[59] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/eight-companies-bid-to-survey-for-oil-off-greece-2012-03-02 ; https://erpic.org/greece-hydrocarbon-search/ ; https://it.euronews.com/2019/07/01/a-creta-le-trivellazioni-fanno-paura ; https://energiaoltre.it/gas-e-petrolio/ ; https://lta.reuters.com/article/idCNA8E8DA00E20120302
[60] https://www.greenreport.it/news/energia/wwf-fermiamo-le-trivellazioni-di-petrolio-e-gas-offshore-e-onshore-in-grecia-video/
[61] https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/6/680/htm
[62] https://www.isa.org.jm/member-states ; https://craigrsmithlab.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/screen-shot-2015-02-07-at-9-24-57-pm.Papua Nuova Guinea
[63] https://www.isa.org.jm/member-states
[64] https://jamaica.mid.ru/en/the_embassy/the_ambassador/
[65] https://jamaica.mid.ru/en/the_embassy/the_ambassador/
[66] https://www.mid.ru/activity/shots/new_appointments/-/asset_publisher/2TDCzbl45VHK/content/id/2193111 ; https://www.mid.ru/ru/maps/jm/-/asset_publisher/RLfNt9NMjVub/content/id/2151534
[67] https://www.isa.org.jm/documents/geological-model-polymetallic-nodule-deposits-clarion-clipperton-fracture-zone
[68] https://www.isa.org.jm/index.php/exploration-contracts/jsc-yuzhmorgeologiya
[70] https://www.rusprofile.ru/id/10648576
[71] https://www.rosgeo.com/subdivision/ymg/#popup-person-enterprise-1904
[72] http://www.soyuzmorgeo.ru/ ; https://www.rusprofile.ru/id/5
[73] http://www.soyuzmorgeo.ru/?q=node/10
[74] https://www.rusprofile.ru/id/154387
[75] https://www.rosgeo.com/subdivision/ymg/#popup-person-enterprise-1904
[76] https://www.captainalbert.com/21-april-2012-at-sea-2/
[77] https://www.rosgeo.com/subdivision/ymg/#popup-person-enterprise-1904
[78] https://www.captainalbert.com/21-april-2012-at-sea-2/
[80] https://www.korabel.ru/news/comments/rosgeologiya_provela_morskie_raboty_v_tihom_okeane.html
[81] https://www.korabel.ru/catalogue/company/ymg/news.html
[82] https://www.korabel.ru/news/comments/rosgeologiya_zavershit_polevye_raboty_na_shelfe_bahreyna.html
[83] http://tatweerpetroleum.com/
[84] https://shelf.gazprom-neft.ru/upload/iblock/248/2019_12_09_gpnsh_buklet_RUS.PDF
[85] https://www.deepsea-mining-alliance.com/mitglieder
[86] https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannes-post-7b834330/?originalSubdomain=de
[87] https://www.deepsea-mining-alliance.com/mc-marketing
[88] https://www.deme-gsr.com/
[89] https://www.avh.be/en/participations
[90] https://b2bhint.com/en/company/be/deeptech–0751974682
[91] https://www.rosnedra.gov.ru/article/7020.html
[92] Kaspy Shipping Service TOO Shymkent
[93] https://adata.kz/counterparty/detail/100140017216 ; https://statsnet.co/companies/kz/51450375 ; http://businessnavigator.kz/m/en/branch/TOO_KASPY_SHIPPING_SERVICE_2972/?CODE=TOO_KASPY_SHIPPING_SERVICE_2972
[94] https://neftegaz.ru/news/drill/251838-na-strukture-rakushechnoe-more-vyyavleny-anomalii-predstavlyayushchie-opasnost-dlya-bureniya/ ; https://www.rosnedra.gov.ru/article/7020.html
[95] http://businessnavigator.kz/m/en/branch/TOO_KASPY_SHIPPING_SERVICE_2972/?CODE=TOO_KASPY_SHIPPING_SERVICE_2972
[96] https://pk.uchet.kz/c/bin/100140017216/ ; https://adata.kz/counterparty/individuals/detail/590417300048
[97] https://fayllar.org/register-of-ships.html?page=206 ; https://panama.data2www.com/e/10136160 ; https://www.korabel.ru/catalogue/company/hankishiev_vahid_aslan_ogly/fleet.html ; https://www.korabel.ru/fleet/view/4009.html ; https://fayllar.org/register-of-ships.html?page=206 ; https://www.blackseanews.net/en/read/120641 ; https://offshoreleaks.icij.org/nodes/10136160
[98] https://www.korabel.ru/fleet/view/4009.html
[99] https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:666181/mmsi:436000062/imo:9344459/vessel:TK_AKTAU
[100] https://www.rosnedra.gov.ru/article/7020.html
[101] https://fayllar.org/register-of-ships.html?page=209
[102] http://maritime-connector.com/ship/turtle-9101326/
[103] https://www.vesselfinder.com/it/vessels/MORION-IMO-9101326-MMSI-0
[104] https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/epr/epr_studies/kazakhstan.pdf, page 71-72, page 182
[105] https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2020/october/tradoc_158997.pdf, page 152
[106] http://astrakhanport.com/
[107] https://www.list-org.com/company/5080
[108] http://www.sovfracht.ru/
[109] https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/9073038Z:RU
[110] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elena_Ivanova43
[111] https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.rollins_investments_sa.14c16f8f7813cdd9b74db1f4f8aef9a9.html
[112] https://www.linkedin.com/in/tatiana-popova-bb41bb48/?originalSubdomain=ee ; https://careers.bolt.eu/
[113] http://www.tlu.ee/~jaagup/andmed/keel/korpus/dok/doc_40918597561_item.txt ; http://www.tlu.ee/~jaagup/andmed/keel/korpus/dok/doc_40918597562_item.txt
[114] http://www.sovfracht.ru/upload/iblock/0f1/0f18491f74c616c0df49cba72713ca6b.pdf
[115] http://www.sovfracht.ru/upload/iblock/0f1/0f18491f74c616c0df49cba72713ca6b.pdf
[116] http://www.rusexporter.com/news/detail/3907/
[117] https://www.iranwatch.org/iranian-entities/khazar-sea-shipping-lines
[118] http://astrakhanport.com/images/docs/2020/02/raskrytie.pdf ; http://www.morvesti.ru/news/1680/51609/ ; http://www.rusexporter.com/news/detail/3907/
[119] https://tass.com/economy/845661
[120] http://astrakhanport.com/images/docs/2020/02/raskrytie.pdf
[121] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-poisoning-caspian-sea-baku-azerbaijan-kazakhstan-a8592386.html
[122] Ali Parchamdar, Abdulreza Karbassi, Mohammad Hossein Niksokhan, “An Investigation on Oil Pollution Dispersion from the Oil Fields of Azerbaijan in Caspian Sea”, Epmut, Teheran 2013 – see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264314915_An_Investigation_on_Oil_Pollution_Dispersion_from_the_Oil_Fields_of_Azerbaijan_in_Caspian_Sea
[123] https://www.org-info.com/company/6413496 ; https://www.spark-interfax.ru/astrakhanskaya-oblast-astrakhan/ooo-kaspi-eko-geo-shipping-inn-3017065026-ogrn-1103017002440-442b0a5ad0054d3db5415bf4a33f0a94
[124] https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.votok.30c34091775302679239f222c7122d2c.html
[125] https://shelf.gazprom-neft.ru/upload/iblock/248/2019_12_09_gpnsh_buklet_RUS.PDF
[126] https://www.gazprom.ru/projects/
[127] https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10/100-fossil-fuel-companies-investors-responsible-71-global-emissions-cdp-study-climate-change
[128] https://www.gazprom-neft.ru/company/major-projects/ ; https://www.interfax.ru/interview/663791 ; https://www.vedomosti.ru/business/articles/2020/01/17/820900-v-razvedku
[129] https://www.rosgeo.com/subdivision/ymg/#popup-person-enterprise-1904
[130] 2016.02.03 Geology Without Limits Ltd. Horsham
[131] https://www.rosgeo.com/press/news/rosgeologiya-provela-v-tikhom-okeane-morskie-raboty-po-izucheniyu-zhelezomargantsevykh-konkretsiy-dl/?sphrase_id=1709
[133] http://solitongeo.narod.ru/
[134] http://solitongeo.com/Geography/index.htm
[135] http://www.solitongeo.com/RUSSIAN/Buklet/0-Clients.pdf
[136] https://www.rosgeo.com/en/press/news/rosgeologiya-v-poiske-polimetallicheskikh-sulfidnykh-rud-issleduet-okolo-1800-km2-dna-atlanticheskog/?sphrase_id=1709 ; https://www.rosgeo.com/press/news/vykhod-nis-professor-logachev-v-ocherednoy-reys-na-sakh/?sphrase_id=1709
[137] https://www.isa.org.jm/exploration-contracts/government-russian-federation
[138] 2018.12.31 Lockheed Martin UK Holdings Langstone, page 18
[139] 2012.05.04 UK Seabed Resources Ltd. Langstone, page 7
[140] 2014.07.03 UK Seabed Resources Ltd. Langstone
[141] https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-gb/products/uk-seabed-resources.html ; https://www.isa.org.jm/map/uk-seabed-resources-ltd-i-and-ii
[142] https://isa.org.jm/files/files/documents/Public%20information%20on%20contracts%20UKSR%20%28UK1%2BUK2%29.pdf
[143] https://www.isa.org.jm/exploration-contracts/uk-seabed-resources-ltd ; https://www.isa.org.jm/exploration-contracts/uk-seabed-resources-ltd-0
[144] https://nerc.ukri.org/research/funded/programmes/highlight-topics/news/ao-round5/uksr-environmental-data-summary/
[145] https://www.isa.org.jm/exploration-contracts/ocean-mineral-singapore-pte-ltd
[146] https://www.isa.org.jm/map/ocean-mineral-singapore-pte-ltd
[147] 2018.12.31 UK Seabed Resources Ltd. Langstone, page 18
[148] https://isa.org.jm/files/files/documents/Public%20information%20on%20contracts%20OMS.pdf
[149] https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/KEPPEL-CORPORATION-LIMITE-6492087/company/
[150] 2018.12.31 Seabed Resources Development Ltd. Langstone, page 17
[151] 2018.12.31 Seabed Resources Development Ltd. Langstone, pages 14-17
[152] Louisa Casson, “Deep Trouble: The Murky World of the Deep Sea Mining Industry”, Greenpeace International, London, December 2020 – see https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-international-stateless/c86ff110-pto-deep-trouble-report-final-1.pdf , pages 13-14
[154] https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-gb/products/uk-seabed-resources.html
[155] https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/corps-regiments-and-units/corps-of-royal-engineers/39-engineer-regiment/
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