Deep sea mining could boost Bermuda’s economy — but the Island is lagging behind in exploiting seabed riches, the PLP’s new Environment spokesman has said.

Glenn Blakeney added that the Pacific island of Papua New Guinea had just decided to use its seabed as a source of revenue.

“The news that Papua New Guinea has entered the deep sea mining industry should serve as a wake-up call to Bermuda and spur us on to action on this lucrative, untapped industry,” Mr Blakeney said.

“As part of our new ideas and solutions to diversify our economy and create opportunities for Bermudians, the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party has been pushing for the development of a ‘blue economy’, which includes deep sea mining.

“Deep sea mining represents the opportunity to add millions of dollars to our economy and assist in paying down the national debt all while protecting existing jobs and creating new opportunities for Bermudians.

“The Bermuda Progressive Labour Party believes that while we sit idle, other countries are leaving us behind.

“We must take actions on solutions that benefit our people and shift from the current focus of slashing civil servant jobs, cutting salaries and scaling back projects that benefit Bermudians.

“Deep sea mining will create new jobs, diversify our economy and create a new revenue stream. This is a real solution, to the real problem facing Bermudians who are beginning to feel like second class citizens in their own country.”

The PLP’s 1998 election-winning platform committed the party to exploiting the seas around for Bermuda for mineral wealth — particularly high-value manganese nodules — but the idea was never developed.

Nick Hutchings, a director of Ocean Projects Ltd, a Bermuda-based subsea exploration company, backed Mr Blakeney.

“Essentially, I would agree with him,” Mr Hutchings said. “I would say that the deep sea mining industry is five to ten years away from maturing to viability.

“The agreement with Papua New Guinea is a milestone because it will be the first true deep water mine. That will kick it off and people will be watching it to see if the equipment works reliably, that the minerals could brought to the surface economically viably and the environmental impact of mining.”

Mr Hutchings said that the Papua New Guinea government had hired environmental experts to examine the impact of mining on its seas and they had concluded that “the impacts are not going to be severe.”

“That mine will probably now open within the next five years and I would predict if the mine can operate within the predicted parameters, there will be quite a bit of investor interest,” he said.

“Bermuda should be looking at that, taking it seriously and taking steps to position itself to take advantage of that opportunity so we can explore our own Exclusive Economic Zone to see if the minerals are viable.

“This is an emerging industry, it’s real and it’s going to happen. We should be thinking about it now and getting ready to take advantage of it.”

Government had not responded to requests for comment by press time.