On July 14, 2022, Beijing time, the International Seabed Authority held an online closing ceremony for its international seabed resource exploration contract contractor training programmes. Representatives of four exploration contractors, the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association (COMRA), China Minmetals Corporation, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. and Germany’s Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, attended, along with all trainees of the four training programmes and representatives of training partners including the National Deep Sea Center.
Because of the international pandemic situation, the two programmes now concluded, the training under COMRA’s polymetallic nodule exploration contract and the training under China Minmetals’ polymetallic nodule exploration contract, were held online. Entrusted by the two organizations, the National Deep Sea Center respectively undertook and participated in the organization and implementation of the two training assignments, carrying out extensive work on building the video course systems, developing the training website platform, running the interactive online courses, and managing the submission and review of training reports. A total of 16 international trainees were trained, completing the assignments in full, and the work was well received by the exploration contractors, the international trainees and the International Seabed Authority.
Under the exploration contracts signed with the International Seabed Authority, each contractor is required to provide training to 10 trainees from developing countries every five years. The National Deep Sea Center says it will further strengthen its international training capabilities and provide Chinese contractors with more professional and systematic training solutions.
