Transocean to invest in Global Sea Mineral Resources

Transocean announced that one of its wholly owned subsidiaries has agreed to make an investment in Global Sea Mineral Resources NV in exchange for a non-controlling interest in the company. GSR is the deep-sea mineral exploratory division of DEME Group NV and is engaged in the development and exploration of deep-sea polymetallic nodules that contain metals critical to the growing renewable energy market, and is a leading developer of nodule collection technology. Transocean has agreed to contribute the stacked Ocean Rig Olympia for GSR’s ongoing exploration work, as well as make a nominal cash investment. In addition, Transocean expects to contribute engineering services on an in-kind basis. GSR intends to convert the Olympia for a system integration test scheduled for 2025 to validate the technical and environmental feasibility of recovering polymetallic nodules in ultra-deepwater on a commercial scale. The technical challenges associated with the recovery of deep-sea polymetallic nodules offer an opportunity to combine Transocean’s unique ultra-deepwater operating experience with GSR’s proprietary technology in polymetallic nodule collection to deliver a commercially viable nodule recovery enterprise for GSR.