On October 19th, 2022, the Ministry of Climate and Environment was audited by a representative of the International Seabed Authority. The visitation was related to the completion of the first scientific research cruise on the Mid-Atlantic rift, which took place in August/September 2022.

The expedition took place under a contract between the mentioned UN agency and the Ministry of Climate and Environment. The expedition was led by the Polish Geological Institute - NRI.

More about the first Polish voyage to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge area

The audit was conducted by Oystein Bruncell Larsen, head of the Compliance Assurance Management Unit (CARMU). The Polish Geological Institute-NRI was represented by Deputy Director for Research and Development Piotr Szrek, and Agata Kozłowska-Roman and Michal Tomczak.

Representatives of the Ministry of Climate and Environment and PGI-NRI together with the auditor - head of the Compliance Assurance Management Unit (CARMU)

- We are very pleased that finally, despite many objective obstacles, despite the COVID-19 pandemic and its overall negative consequences for the global economy, Poland managed to conduct the first scientific research cruise in our concession area this year," said Chief National Geologist Deputy Minister Piotr Dziadzio during the meeting.

After reviewing the preliminary interpretations and the quality and quantity of the specialized data collected by Ocean Floor Geophysics (OFG), the auditor of the International Seabed Authority spoke very highly of the quality of the surveys carried out in the Polish concession area and the commitment of the staff to the contract. He pointed out that compared to other countries, this is some of the better data collected to date.

At the end of the meeting, Deputy Minister Piotr Dziadzio thanked the team and staff of the Polish Geological Institute - National Research Institute and the Ministry of Climate and Environment for their commitment to the contract for the exploration of polymetallic sulfides on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and for bringing the first scientific research cruise to the concession area.

Meeting to discuss the implementation of the first Polish scientific research cruise in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge area

The data obtained from the ocean surveys will be processed and undergo multifaceted analyses over the coming months to be presented in a final report in Q1 of 2023.

Source: Ministry of Climate and Environment
Photos: Ministry of Climate and Environment
Translated by: Tomasz Trzpil