ABYSSA SAS announced that it has set up ABYSSA NEW CALEDONIA
ABYSSA plans to conduct an initial exploratory campaign in the Pacific toward the end of 2021, using an autonomous underwater vehicle that can dive to depths up to 6000 m. ABYSSA NEW CALEDONIA will thus take a lead role in the region, alongside local partners and co-founders working in the scientific, technical, industrial and financial fields.
“I had no trouble convincing our strategic committee that this is a good idea, having a branch in the Pacific region just makes so much sense for the future of the company,” Jean-Marc SORNIN, ABYSSA CEO, told us after the strategic committee meeting held on 26 August 2020.
Michel COLINET, Associate Director in charge of Development Strategy and Business Development, confirmed this:
“Given the incredible biodiversity, geodiversity and potential resources (biological, geological, physical, renewable energy, etc.) contained within it, the deep seabed in this western part of the South Pacific, and especially within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of New Caledonia and the Island States in the region, is a ‘global hotspot’, presenting many major challenges relating to our knowledge of it and how to protect and conserve it, as well as to finding responsible ways to use the extraordinary underwater resources it encompasses. However, it is impossible for public authorities and industry alike to make informed decisions regarding sanctuarisation or the conditions for exploiting resources without a deep understanding of these extremely sensitive ecosystems. It is essential to conduct exploratory survey campaigns.“
