Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador Dwight Gardiner becomes President of International Seabed Authority.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne who made the announcement in a social media post described the development as ‘a major achievement for Small Island States fighting for ocean protection and marine resources critical to the survival of this and future generations’.
His Excellency Ambassador Dwight Gardiner, currently serves as Permanent Representative to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Director and Registrar General of the Antigua and Barbuda Department of Marine Services and Merchant Shipping (ADOMS).
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is an autonomous international organization established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 1994 Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1994 Agreement).
ISA is the organization through which States Parties to UNCLOS organize and control all mineral-resources-related activities in the Area for the benefit of humankind as a whole. In so doing, ISA has the mandate to ensure the effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects that may arise from deep-seabed-related activities.
ISA, which has its headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica, came into existence on 16 November 1994, upon the entry into force of UNCLOS. It became fully operational as an autonomous international organization in June 1996, when it took over the premises and facilities in Kingston, Jamaica, previously used by the United Nations Kingston Office for the Law of the Sea.
