To a large extent, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”) shields the contractual rights of deep seabed miners from the regulatory powers yielded by the International Seabed Authority (“ISA”). Exploration and exploitation contracts concluded between the ISA and deep seabed mining operators are afforded security of tenure: their unilateral suspension or…

Various Pacific Island states have become involved in deep seabed mining (“DSM”) in order to reap the allegedly significant benefits to be obtained from extractive activities in the international seabed (“the Area”). According to the government of Nauru, such gains include “employment; training; capacity building; technology transfer; foreign investment; increased tax revenue; and national self-determination”….