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The British government is pressure for a domestic buyer to take over the mining exploration licenses on the high seas that it sponsors in the Pacific Ocean, while it seeks to advance in the world race for the precious seabed metals.
Norway's Loke Marine Minerals, owner of the Resources of the British seabed in the United Kingdom, has filed for bankruptcy this month after fought to raise capital. This auction process has started two exploration permits supported by the British government.
The transfer of licenses can be examined under the British law on national security investments, a business and trade official wrote earlier this month in an email, seen by the Financial Times, to the director general of Loke, Walter Sognnes.
Having a Norwegian parent company for Uksr would be “problematic,” said the official, adding: “We will strongly suggest that you investigate the restructuring as a Holding company in the United Kingdom as a priority.”
The law gives the government's powers to examine and intervene in commercial transactions to protect national security. The United Kingdom Affairs and Trade Department has refused to comment.
Loke said that the property structure was a question of discussion by “the new owner of Uksr” and the British government.
This decision is the last sign of renewed interest in competition for battery metals, including nickel, cobalt and copper, which are on the seabed, according to the signals of the American president Trump in recent weeks that he wishes to accelerate the emerging industry.
Under the current regulations, the exploration licenses of the seabed in international waters must be supported or sponsored by states which have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
This aims to ensure that companies, which are not directly linked by the treaty, always comply with high standards.
China should dominate the seabed sector, because it sponsors more exploration licenses in international waters than any other country. But Norway described plans to become the first country in the world to mine on the high seas on a commercial scale in its own national waters.
On the other hand, countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany hide their bets on the future of the exploration of seabed while they are trying to balance the environmental opposition with efforts aimed at strengthening the chains of critical mineral supplies from Europe.
They are part of the countries that sponsor contracts allocated by the de facto regulator, Jamaica International Self Authority, for the exploration of seabed in international waters, including in the Pacific Ocean.
At the same time, nations argue that too little about the effects of mining on flora and deep fauna to continue.
Even if the geopolitical interest in the metals of the seabed increases, the industry has struggled to attract capital, with large minors reluctant to sign leave agreements in an excess metals environment, including nickel.
There is also an uncertainty about the regulatory position of industry and the transformation of metals from the seabed.
Last year, the ISA told Loke that the UKSR was “at risk of non-compliance” of its exploration contracts, according to the correspondence observed by the FT. Uksr was sold by the American defense entrepreneur Lockheed Martin in Loke in 2023.
The entity has also lagged behind its license costs, according to people familiar with the issue.
“We could not raise capital, then we lacked money,” said a person close to Loke, blaming the long deliberations of the member states of ISA on the future of industry for the company that is delayed on its plans to carry out research on potential mines.
“It takes two in Tango … No international regulations have taken up more time to set up it.”
The Greenpeace campaign group has obtained the correspondence of the ISA and the British government when it recently entered the auctions to bid for the two licenses of the United Kingdom, in a blow to prevent the commercial exploitation of the deep sea from moving forward.
The non-profit organization was informed that the other bidders included the founders of Loke and the offshore technology company based in the United Kingdom TechnipFMC, which invested in Loke. TechnipFMC did not respond to a request for comments.
Entrepreneurs who are formed in the country of the godfather but are actually controlled by a parent company abroad make a “mockery” of the legal framework that governs access to the seabed, said Duncan Currie, lawyer for the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition.
Additional reports by Camilla Hodgson
