Coalter Lathrop is Principal and Founder at Sovereign Geographic as well as a lecturer on international law of the sea. He joins me on the podcast to express his concerns over the United States’ potential sanctioning of mineral recovery in the international seabed outside of UNCLOS framework.

Follow Coalter:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coalter-g-lathrop-7372bb6/

Chapters

00:00 Concerns Over U.S. Maritime Law and Deep Seabed Mining03:48 Expertise and Background in Maritime Law07:18 Maritime Border Disputes and Their Importance11:58 The Law of the Sea and Deep Seabed Mining17:32 The Unlawfulness of U.S. Unilateral Mining Permits22:14 Differences in Mining Licenses: TMC vs. Lockheed Martin27:32 The Role of the International Seabed Authority37:58 The Impact of U.S. Executive Orders on Maritime Law43:32 Concerns About the Rule of Law in Ocean Governance48:46 Historical Context of UNCLOS and Its Significance54:20 The Evolution of Maritime Jurisdiction Zones59:04 The Scarcity Narrative Behind UNCLOS01:04:06 The Risks of Unilateral Actions in Maritime Law01:09:38 The Importance of International Cooperation01:14:38 Trade-offs in Environmental and Economic Concerns01:20:26 Legal vs. Ethical Issues in Maritime Law01:26:08 Final Thoughts and Resources for Further Learning

Theme Music Tamarack by Jesse Matas

Further reading

Coalter Lathrop: Op-ed: The international legal risks of TMC’s new America Alone approach (Iceberg research) https://iceberg-research.com/2025/06/25/op-ed-the-international-legal-risks-of-tmcs-new-america-alone-approach/

Coalter Lathrop: The Latest Trump Threat to International Law: Unilaterally Mining the Area (EJIL Talk!) https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-latest-trump-threat-to-international-law-unilaterally-mining-the-area/

Coalter Lathrop: Payne Institute Webinar | The United States Reenters Deep Seabed Mining for Critical Mineralshttps://www.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/5642122/uiconf_id/53713682/entry_id/1_m4ibvfoy/embed/iframe

Coalter Lathrop: The Modern Political Map of Our Ocean Planet (Brown Journal of World Affairs) https://bjwa.brown.edu/25-2/lathrop-the-modern-political-map-of-our-ocean-planet/

Joanna Dingwall: International Law and Corporate Actors in Deep Seabed Mining(Oxford Univ. Press)https://www.wildy.com/isbn/9780192898265/international-law-and-corporate-actors-in-deep-seabed-mining-hardback-oxford-university-press

Toby Fisher and Samantha Robb – Untouchable metals: How the obligations of UNCLOS States Parties limit the commercial viability of unilateral deep sea mining (EJIL Talk!) https://www.ejiltalk.org/untouchable-metals-how-the-obligations-of-unclos-states-parties-limit-the-commercial-viability-of-unilateral-deep-sea-mining/

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