Key points
- Allseas tested its nodule collector during Atlantic ultra-deepwater sea trials, deployed from the mineral collection vessel Hidden Gem.
- The collector traveled more than 1 km at 2,500 m water depth, where pressure is about 250 times greater than at sea level, while critical functions and control systems were pressure-tested.
- Allseas plans to take the pilot collection system to depths of up to 5,000 m on the Pacific floor, where pressure would be about 500 times that at sea level.
- The company frames the work as supporting future collection of seafloor polymetallic nodules for vehicle batteries and renewable energy technologies.
