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The UK government is urging domestic buyers to take over the deep-sea mining exploration license sponsored in the Pacific as they seek to advance with a global race for valuable submarine metals.
Norwegian Roukmarine Mineral, which owns the UK’s undersea resources of its license holder, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month after struggling to raise capital. This kickstarted the auction process for exploration permits supported by two UK governments.
The transfer of the license may be reviewed under the UK National Security Investment Act. The Business and Trade Office wrote in an email seen by the Financial Times earlier this month for location chief executive Walter Sognens.
Having a Norwegian parent company for UKSR “is a problem,” officials said:
The law gives governments the power to scrutinize and intervene in business transactions to protect national security. The UK’s business and trade division declined to comment.
Loke said the ownership structure is a matter of debate by the UK government as “the new owner of the UKSR.”
The move is the latest indication of renewed interest in the competition for battery metals such as nickel, cobalt and copper on the seabed, following a signal from US President Trump in recent weeks.
Under current regulations, submarine mining exploration licences in international waters must be supported or sponsored by states that ratify the United Nations Sea Law Convention.
This is intended to ensure that businesses that are not directly bound by the treaty still maintain high standards.
China is expected to control the submarine sector, as it sponsors more exploration licenses in international waters than any other country. However, Norway has outlined plans to become the world’s first country to mine deep seas on a commercial scale in its waters.
Greenpeace activists protest deep sea mining in the Pacific ©Marten Van Dijl/Greenpeace
In contrast, countries including the UK, France and Germany are betting on the future of submarine exploration as they try to balance environmental opposition with efforts to strengthen European key mineral supply chains.
They are one of the countries that sponsor contracts allocated by the Jamaica-based International Submarine Authority for exploring the seabed under international waters, including the Pacific Ocean.
At the same time, the state argues that the impact of mining on deep-sea flora and fauna is too unknown.
Despite growing geopolitical interest in undersea metals, the industry is struggling to attract capital, with some large miners reluctant to close their contracts amid an excess supply of metals, including nickel.
There is also uncertainty about the regulatory position of the industry and where the metals on the seabed will be treated.
The ISA told Rourke’s chief executive that UKSR was “at risk of non-compliance” in the investigation agreement, according to a news report seen by the FT last year. UKSR was sold to Rourke in 2023 by US defense contractor Rocky Martin.
Those familiar with the issue say that entities are also behind the licensing fees.
“We couldn’t raise funds and then we were running out of money,” a person near Rourke condemned the lengthy deliberations on the future of the industry in ISA countries as they were lagging behind plans to conduct future mining research.
“It takes two tangos…it didn’t take longer to get into place than this.”
Campaign group Greenpeace recently obtained communications from the ISA and the UK government when it attended an auction to bid on two UK licenses.
The nonprofit organization has been informed that other bidders include Loke’s founder and UK-based offshore technology company TechnipFMC. Technipfmc did not respond to requests for comment.
Duncan Currie, a lawyer with the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, said that while the “ock ha ha,” the legal framework that manages access to the seabed is effectively managed by overseas parent companies, the contractors built into the sponsoring country are effectively managed by overseas parent companies.
Additional Reports by Camilla Hodgson
