The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project and the Five Deeps Expedition signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on March 11, making official the research on previously unexplored areas of the seafloor to be mapped and the resulting data made available for public use. The collaboration aims to complete the global ocean’s mapping by 2030 and to also compile all bathymetric data into the freely available GEBCO Ocean Map.
The Five Deeps Expedition is the world’s first manned expedition to reach the deepest point in each of the five oceans.
Victor Vescovo, an undersea explorer and private equity investor was the one who founded and sponsored the project and signed the MoU on behalf of the Five Deeps Expedition, whereas Acting Director Dr Graham Allen signed the MOU on behalf of Seabed 2030.
Moreover, Victor Vescovo is one amongst a handful of people to have climbed to the highest peak on all seven continents as well as ski to both poles, and last December became the first person to reach the deepest point of the Atlantic Ocean – the Puerto Rico Trench, almost five miles beneath the water’s surface – piloting a specially engineered Triton submarine, named The Limiting Factor.
The MoU presents a variety of pathways for the Five Deeps Expedition and Seabed 2030 to cooperate in order to share new maritime data in favour of science.
Firstly, the Five Deeps expedition must produce detailed bathymetric maps of each of the five trenches before each dive to ensure the safety of its operations. It has been agreed that all of this high-resolution data will be donated to Seabed 2030 for inclusion in the global map of the ocean floor.
Secondly, the Five Deeps Expedition has agreed to leave its sonar systems switched on while in transit in order to provide additional bathymetric data collected between these areas.
In the meantime, Seabed 2030 agreed to enlist experts to operate the onboard sonar systems to collect the transit data, at no cost to the Five Deeps Expedition.
Also, Dr Graham Allen, Acting Director of The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project commented
The task of producing a complete map of the world’s ocean floor by 2030 is an ambitious undertaking, and can only be achieved through unparalleled international collaboration.
In addition, Victor Vescovo reported that the original and primary mission of the Five Deeps Expedition was to present the capabilities of their deep-diving system, including the Limiting Factor as well as its support ship, the DSSVPressure Drop.
According to the Nippon Foundation, all the data that will be collected and shared with the Seabed 2030 Project will be included in the global grid, the most complete bathymetric dataset of the world’s ocean floor.
By 2030, the gird will present a complete map to coincide with the outcome of the United Nations’ Decade of Ocean Science.
Signed at the headquarters of the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO) in Monaco, the MoU establishes a partnership between Seabed 2030 and the Five Deeps Expedition in recognition that both parties will collaborate to increase humanity’s collective scientific understanding of the world’s oceans.
GEBCO is a joint project of the IHO and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), and is the only organisation with a mandate to map the entire ocean floor.
