{"id":10204,"date":"2025-11-08T20:05:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T20:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/cook-islands-hosts-chinese-research-vessel-as-us-china-scramble-for-deep-sea-minerals-intensifies\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T20:05:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T20:05:43","slug":"cook-islands-hosts-chinese-research-vessel-as-us-china-scramble-for-deep-sea-minerals-intensifies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/cook-islands-hosts-chinese-research-vessel-as-us-china-scramble-for-deep-sea-minerals-intensifies\/","title":{"rendered":"Cook Islands hosts Chinese research vessel as US-China scramble for deep-sea minerals intensifies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BEIJING, Nov 8 — A Chinese research vessel docked in the Cook Islands today as it probed the Pacific nation’s deep-sea mining potential, a fledgling industry of mounting interest to both Beijing and Washington.<\/p>\n

The Da Yang Hao docked in the palm-shaded port of Avatiu on a “scientific research cruise” through the tropical archipelago, the Cook Islands’ Seabed Minerals Authority said.<\/p>\n

Huge areas of seabed around the Cook Islands are carpeted in polymetallic nodules, lumpy rocks studded with rare earths and critical minerals such as cobalt, nickel and manganese.<\/p>\n

The Cook Islands—which lays claim to one of the world’s biggest deposits of polymetallic nodules—signed a contentious deep-sea mining cooperation deal with China earlier this year.<\/p>\n

“This cruise is about learning by doing,” said Seabed Minerals Authority spokesman Edward Herman.<\/p>\n

“Our team is actively participating in all activities to build our knowledge and capacity in marine research.”<\/p>\n

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This included mapping the seabed with sonar arrays and dredging up sediment samples, said the authority.<\/p>\n

Fringed by sparkling lagoons, South Pacific nation the Cook Islands has opened its vast ocean territory for deep-sea mining exploration.<\/p>\n

With existing supplies of critical minerals heavily exposed to trade disputes, both the United States and China have this year ramped up interest in the highly contentious industry.<\/p>\n

Critical minerals, such as cobalt and nickel, are in hot demand for electric vehicles, rechargeable batteries and advanced military technology.<\/p>\n

The United States secured its own agreement to pursue deep-sea mining research with the Cook Islands in August.<\/p>\n

Deep-sea exploration <\/strong><\/p>\n

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AFP photos showed the near-100 metre (330 feet) Da Yang Hao vessel cutting through the Cook Islands’ sleepy main harbour before docking on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

The ship was emblazoned with the logo of China’s Ocean Mineral Resources Research Association, which is tasked with the exploration of seabed minerals.<\/p>\n

Chinese research vessels have been accused of carrying out surveillance and other military activities under the auspices of scientific work.<\/p>\n

Pacific island nation Palau, a staunch US ally in the region, in 2021 alleged that the Da Yang Hao had entered its exclusive economic zone without proper permissions.<\/p>\n

The Da Yang Hao arrives in the Cook Islands less than one month after a deep-sea research voyage backed by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.<\/p>\n

While exploration for deep-sea mining is far advanced, no company or nation has started production on a commercial scale.<\/p>\n

Critics fear deep-sea mining will smother marine life with waste and the noise of heavy machinery will disrupt oceanic migrations.<\/p>\n

International regulators are still trying to thrash out environmental rules governing the industry. — AFP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Cook Islands hosts Chinese research vessel as US-China scramble for deep-sea minerals intensifies<\/sub><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIJING, Nov 8 — A Chinese research vessel docked in the Cook Islands today as it probed the Pacific nation’s deep-sea mining potential, a fledgling industry of mounting interest to both Beijing and Washington. The Da Yang Hao docked in the palm-shaded port of Avatiu on a “scientific research cruise” through the tropical archipelago, the Cook…<\/p>\n

Read More “Cook Islands hosts Chinese research vessel as US-China scramble for deep-sea minerals intensifies”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}