The UN High Seas Treaty & more– 26th Sep 2023

Ahoy from Tibidabo! This is Rorshok’s Ocean Update from the 26th of September twenty twenty-three A summary of what's going down in the 70% surface of the Earth covered in salt water

On Wednesday, the 20th, the EU and several other countries signed the UN’s High Seas Treaty in New York in the General Assembly. The pact, also known as the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, applies to half of the Earth and 95% of the ocean’s volume. The main goals are to tackle environmental degradation, fight climate change, and prevent biodiversity loss. The Treaty now has eighty-one signatories. Once ratified, the High Seas Treaty will establish marine protected areas to safeguard the ocean from human activities.

Scientists are also committed to saving our oceans. Teams from Khalifa University in the United Arab Emirates and the US Stanford University are collaborating to create a robot that can clean the oceans. The scientists are now testing the robots in a lab pool in Abu Dhabi that simulates the conditions of the deep sea. The robots will be able to catch objects and monitor the surroundings. They can now dive to a depth of 300 meters (or 985 feet), but the crew is trying to get it to go deeper. The aim is to explore ocean areas that human beings can’t reach.

Speaking about the depths of the ocean, according to a study published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum, researchers discovered a new virus that lives at a depth of nine thousand meters (or 29,000 feet). This virus proliferates inside bacteria and has a similar structure to its host. Even though the virus invades and proliferates inside its host, it doesn’t kill it.

On that note about marine life, a very rare octopus was recently spotted in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. A group of marine experts were on an underwater mission to study the distribution of the different species in the area when they found the animal: They nicknamed the octopus “Dumbo” because it has fins that look like big ears, resembling the famous cartoon. It usually lives at a depth of seven thousand meters (around 23,000 feet), that’s why it’s so difficult to spot it. A deep-sea camera installed in an Ocean Exploration Trust vehicle filmed the animal.

In other news, an explosion in the Black Sea, near the Danube, damaged an anchored Togo-flagged cargo ship on Wednesday, the 20th. The twelve-member crew issued a Mayday in Romanian waters. The Romanian coast guards evacuated the whole crew, and no injuries were reported. The extent of the vessel’s damages is not clear, but the stern might have broken and made the boat take on water. However, the hypothesis is that the ship hit a sea mine: Russia has deeply mined the Black Sea because of the invasion of Ukraine. Although the incident took place in Romanian waters, the sea current could have moved the mine from Ukrainian territory. If a Russian sea mine caused the incident, the event could be considered an attack on NATO, since Romania is a member of the alliance.

In the same area, two ships containing Ukrainian wheat successfully arrived in Istanbul by taking the Black Sea route. The Palau-flagged vessels traveled and arrived safely despite the Russian threat to attack any ship entering or leaving Ukraine. Both ships departed from the port of Chornomorsk, near Odessa. Recall that in previous episodes we talked about Russia's withdrawal from an international agreement on grain deal because of the invasion of Ukraine, which is highly impacting global supplies and markets.

Still on cargo ships. The Australian Border Force confiscated $80 million Australian dollars (or 52 million US dollars) worth of cocaine hidden in a cargo ship in Melbourne. Over 200 kilograms of cocaine were found attached to the hull of the vessel. The hull looked suspicious, attached to the ship’s sea chest with pipes to pump seawater. The vessel traveled from Argentina via New Zealand, then moved to the West and reached South Australia. Richard Chin, commander of the Australian Federal Police, said the authorities are doing their best to catch the people behind the drug trafficking. Clinton Sims, commander of the Australian Border Force, also added that Australia became the target of different organized criminal groups that aim to transport illegal drugs through the country’s borders via commercial ships.

Moving on to the Suez Canal. The Canal is the traditional route Europe and Asia use to exchange goods but this might change in the near future. India’s Adani Group recently bought Haifa Port, Israel's second largest port, and has every intention to transform it into an alternative route to the historical Suez Canal. Ron Malka, Israel’s former envoy to India, is now the executive chairman of the Haifa Port Company. He announced that his goal was to use the port as a gateway connecting the East and the West. He also mentioned a visionary long-term project, consisting of railway connections between Haifa and the West of Asia through the United Arab Emirates. Can this be the end of the huge strategic power the Suez Canal has held until now?

From the Suez to the Panama Canal. According to the Canal Authorities, The restrictions on shipping mentioned in previous episodes are going to stay in place until next year. Because of the drought, the Panama Canal has reduced the number of vessels that can transit daily from thirty-six to thirty-two. The aim is to conserve as much water as possible to lift up and down the vessels through the Canal. The daily limit is helping, but more than 200 ships were stuck over the last month. Ship-owners are starting to prefer different routes to avoid the traffic in the Canal.

Some news on Norway. Experts from Norce, one of the largest research organizations in the country, found that after a year of people volunteering to clean the shore of an island close to Bergen, the presence of microplastics in the water fell by 99.5%. The scientists added that UV sunlight and warm temperatures might accelerate plastic degradation. The research shows that with regular cleanup and removal of large pieces of plastic, the fragments begin to disappear, but only when exposed to the sun In fact, the plastic stuck in deep and cold water can take centuries to disappear.

Moving now into deep Africa. A Floating Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion platform (also known as the OTEC platform) will be installed off the West Coast of Africa, in the Gulf of Guinea, off São Tomé e Príncipe. According to Global OTEC, “This is the first time a floating platform is being developed in a Small Island Development States and Least Developed Country.” The platform will produce energy using the temperature differences between the ocean surface and the deep ocean. The aim is to develop and produce zero-carbon clean energy from the natural conditions of the tropical area. The ambitious project will contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Currently, São Tomé e Príncipe produces 80% of its energy needs from biomass.

Closing with the earthquake that hit Indonesia. An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale occurred in the Indian Ocean, south of Aceh Province, on Sunday, the 24th. The epicenter was located eighty-seven kilometers (or fifty-four miles) south of Sinabang. The tremor started at a depth of thirty kilometers (or nineteen miles), and people in the southwestern Aceh Province, western Pulau Bangkaru, and far western North Sumatra Province felt the quake. An initial report found no damages or injuries, but remote and rural areas still need to be assessed.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

For those who don't know, we have a new show! Apart from the country updates and The Multilateral Update, we have launched the Arctic Update, which covers what's happening North of the Arctic Circle. Wanna check out our updates? Follow the link in the show notes!

See you next week!