Seabed-mining firm faces questions as it seeks controversial US permit

Company's partners rethinking ties as US order conflicts with UN Law of the Sea

- Max Bearak

Two months ago, President Donald Trump took an extraordinary step towards issuing permits to mine vast tracts of the ocean floor in international waters where valuable minerals are abundant.

It was a boon to The Metals Company (TMC), an ambitious start-up that had already spent more than half a billion dollars preparing to become the world's first commercial seabed miner. Within days of Mr Trump's executive order, the company submitted its application to the federal government.

As a result, some of the company's international partners are now questioning their relationships with TMC, given that Mr Trump's order conflicts with a longstanding treaty known as the Law of the Sea, potentially exposing them to legal risks.

The issue with TMC's seabed-mining application is that nearly every country in the world, but not the US, has signed the Law of the Sea treaty. Its language is clear: Mining in areas outside a country's territorial waters before nations agree on how to handle the practice is not just a breach of international law, but also an affront to "the common heritage of mankind".

In May, a Japanese firm that TMC has partnered with in the past to process minerals from seabed-mining test runs said it was "carefully discussing the matter with TMC", citing the importance of doing business with companies "via a route that has earned international credibility".

In June, the Dutch Parliament, noting that TMC would be using a ship belonging to Allseas, a half-Dutch company, voted to request that the Dutch government "take and support any possible (legal) action against the US and The Metals Company" if they mine in international waters.

At July meetings of the International Seabed Authority, or ISA, which is a UN-affiliated body that administers the Law of the Sea, delegates hotly debated whether to strip TMC and its partners of exploration permits it had obtained through the ISA in recent years and would soon need to extend.