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The UK government is pushing for a domestic buyer to take over the deep-sea mining exploration licences it sponsors in the Pacific Ocean, as it seeks to get ahead in the global race for precious seabed metals.
Norway’s Loke Marine Minerals, which owns the licence-holder UK Seabed Resources, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month after struggling to raise capital. This kick-started an auction process for two UK government-backed exploration permits.
The transfer of the licences may be reviewed under the UK’s National Security Investment Act, a Department for Business and Trade official wrote earlier this month in an email, seen by the Financial Times, to Loke’s chief executive Walter Sognnes.
Having a Norwegian parent company for UKSR would be “problematic”, the official said, adding: “We would strongly suggest that you investigate restructuring as a UK holding company as a priority.”
The act gives the government powers to scrutinise and intervene in business transactions to protect national security. The UK’s business and trade department declined to comment.
Loke said the ownership structure was a matter for discussion by “the new owner of UKSR” and the UK government.
The move is the latest sign of renewed interest in the competition for battery metals including nickel, cobalt and copper that are found on the seabed, following signals from US President Trump in recent weeks that he wants to fast-track the fledgling industry.
Under current regulation, seabed mining exploration licences in international waters must be backed or sponsored by states that have ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
This is meant to ensure that companies, which are not directly bound by the treaty, still uphold high standards.
China is expected to dominate the seabed sector, as it sponsors more exploration licences in international waters than any other country. But Norway has outlined plans to become the first country in the world to conduct deep-sea mining on a commercial scale in its own national waters.
In contrast, countries including the UK, France and Germany have been hedging their bets on the future of seabed exploration as they try to balance environmental opposition with efforts to strengthen Europe’s critical mineral supply chains.
They are among countries that sponsor contracts allocated by the de facto regulator, the Jamaica-based International Seabed Authority, for exploration of the seabed that lies under international waters including in the Pacific Ocean.
At the same time, the nations argue that too little is known about the effects of mining on deep-sea flora and fauna for it to go ahead.
Even as geopolitical interest in seabed metals grows, the industry has struggled to attract capital, with large miners reluctant to sign offtake agreements amid oversupply of metals including nickel.
There is also uncertainty about the industry’s regulatory standing and where seabed metals would be processed.
The ISA last year told Loke’s chief executive that UKSR was “at risk of non-compliance” with its exploration contracts, according to correspondence seen by the FT. UKSR was sold by US defence contractor Lockheed Martin to Loke in 2023.
The entity has also fallen behind on its licence fees, according to people familiar with the matter.
“We couldn’t raise capital and then we were running out of money,” a person close to Loke said, blaming ISA member states’ lengthy deliberation on the future of the industry for the company falling behind on its plans to conduct research into prospective mining.
“It takes two to tango . . . No international regulation has taken longer to get into place than this one.”
Campaign group Greenpeace obtained correspondence from the ISA and the UK government when it recently entered the auction to bid for the UK’s two licences, in a stunt designed to stop commercial deep-sea mining from going ahead.
The non-profit was informed that other bidders included Loke’s founders and the UK-based offshore technology company TechnipFMC, which has invested in Loke. TechnipFMC did not respond to a request for comment.
Contractors that are incorporated in the sponsoring country but are effectively controlled by a parent company abroad make a “mockery” of the legal framework that governs access to the seabed, said Duncan Currie, a lawyer at the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition.
Additional reporting by Camilla Hodgson
