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This decade, we will rewrite the ocean exploration playbook. Much like the early 1960s—when Trieste made its record-breaking dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (1960); Scripps began developing the first Deep Tow System (1961); the USNS Compass Island became the first vessel to operate a multibeam echosounder (1963); and WHOI’s Alvin became a household name (1964)—offshore professionals stand on the precipice of a new, game-changing era. Those pioneering days paved the way for unprecedented advances in ocean technology—including ROV development and deep-sea drilling capabilities—and pivotal scientific discovery. Once again, it is technology that will facilitate our progress, but today we are less concerned with transporting people to new frontiers and more minded to send machines on our behalf.

As state-led contractors carry out their environmental due diligence and test their subsea technologies in the Pacific’s Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ), signs suggest that ocean mining extraction could become a reality within the next few years.

ON&T recently caught up with Ted Brockett, one of the pioneers of seabed mining technology, to take a look back at the early days of ocean exploration

Recent advances in marine technology have redefined the boundaries of nearshore, offshore, and deep-sea exploration. Intelligent control systems and increasingly capable marine robotics—powered by machine learning and the IoT—have extended our reach, taken us to new frontiers, and ultimately opened up new markets.