Norway Wants To Be The First Country To Extract Battery Metals From The Ocean Floor

According to a report in the Financial Times, the Norwegian government has set its sights on becoming the first country to extract battery metals from the seabed. The Scandinavian country aims to open an area about the size of Germany to deep-sea mining deep in the cold ocean waters.

Norway's energy ministry will submit a proposal to parliament in the next two weeks to open up vast areas to mineral exploration and extraction. The proposal is expected to be put to a parliamentary vote in the fall. But Oslo faces a battle with fishing businesses and environmentalists over deep-sea mining. However, as it pushes for mining near the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard in the Arctic, it also faces the risk of a dispute with other countries. Norway argues that it has exclusive mining rights over a larger area of open water than Russia, the UK and the EU claim.

57 Percent of Türkiye’s Exports are by the Sea
 

According to Türkiye Statistical Institute data, Türkiye exports reached 80 billion 869 million dollars in the January-April period. In this period, most of the foreign trade was carried out by sea. The value of exports carried by ships was 45 billion 735 million 344 thousand dollars. The share of sea transportation in total exports was 57 percent.

In Türkiye 124 billion 313 million dollars worth of imports, sea transportation had the largest share with 63 billion 722 million dollars. It was followed by land transportation with 22.8 billion dollars, air transportation with 19.1 billion dollars and rail transportation with 746.5 million dollars. Other modes of transportation approached 18 billion dollars.

Carbon Dioxide Emissions Regulation Enters Into Force

In a statement made on the social media account of the General Directorate of Maritime Affairs of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, it was stated that the regulation in question was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of Europe in 2015. In the statement, it was stated that with the regulation, as of January 1, 2018, it is mandatory to monitor, report and verify the carbon dioxide emissions of ships of 5 thousand GT and above that carry cargo and passenger transportation for commercial purposes calling at EU/European Economic Area ports, regardless of the flag they carry or the country they belong to. It was pointed out that with the new regulation, methane gas and nitrogen protoxide emissions were included in the application as well as carbon dioxide emissions, and the following information was shared:

"Greenhouse gas emissions emitted during the voyages of ships of 5,000 GT and above, which carry out cargo or passenger transportation for commercial purposes, from their last port of call to a port under the jurisdiction of a Member State or from a port under the jurisdiction of a Member State to their next port of call, as well as during their voyages between ports under the jurisdiction of Member States, are included in the EU Emissions Trading System. As of January 1, 2025, general cargo ships between 400-5 thousand GT and offshore ships over 400 GT will also be covered by the aforementioned regulation regarding greenhouse gas emissions during the above voyages. In this context, the evaluation and approval of monitoring plans, verification of emission reports and certificate of conformity (DOC) procedures are carried out by the institutions authorized by the Ministry. The relevant ship operators will submit the collective emission data of the previous year to the authorized institutions between 28 February-31 March every year starting from 2025."