Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A $28 million project to survey 103,000 square kilometers of seafloor in American Samoa waters has begun this month.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Ocean Service has contracted NV5 to undertake the work, using the survey vessel Ocean Guardian.

The aim is to produce publicly accessible maps, images and samples of the seafloor, which is suspected to be a prime location for potential mining of deposits of minerals such as manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements.

The effort is part of the US Department of Commerce’s implementation of the US Offshore Critical Minerals Mapping Plan.

“This project highlights NOAA’s strong impact on economic resilience as we invest in research that supports sustainable deep sea mining practices and allows partners to better understand their marine environments,” said Neil Jacobs, NOAA administrator.

(Source: NOAA)

UN COP31

Fiji, Palau and Tuvalu will be hosting world leaders and climate change ministers in the lead-up to COP31.

Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr told the ABC that Pacific leaders were close to landing a deal that would hand Palau, Fiji and Tuvalu a prominent role ahead of this year's United Nations climate conference.

On Thursday, Pacific Islands Forum confirmed that "following a political consultative process", the COP 31 pre-COP meeting will be convened in Fiji in October 2026, with a followed by a special leaders component to be held in Tuvalu.

"This will build on a special climate event to be convened as part of the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau in early September," the PIF Secretariat said in a statement

A deal was struck last year for the main climate summit go to Türkiye while giving Australia's Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen a key position in global climate negotiations.

(Source: RNZ Pacific)

PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM

Taiwan says it will attend this year's Pacific Islands Forum meeting.

Taiwan, along with the United States and China, were not invited to last year's annual Forum summit in the Solomon Islands.

But this year's meeting is in Palau, one of only three Pacific Island nations to formally recognize Taiwan, alongside Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands.

Taiwan has previously pledged buses to Palau to help transport delegates to and from meetings.

The Taipei Times reported Taiwanese diplomats are seeking ways to show of their bilateral aid projects.

(Source: RNZ Pacific)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

A Papua New Guinea court has issued fines to three ships' captains and 24 crew members for illegal fishing.

The National newspaper reported the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) caught the men on three fishing vessels, during a major operation on illegal, unreported and unregistered fishing in Gulf waters.

The group were fined a total of 600,000 kina - around US$140,000.

Two vessels were escorted to Port Moresby by the Papua New Guinea fisheries patrol vessels, and the third vessel was sunk when it started to take on water while sailing to Port Moresby.

(Source: RNZ Pacific)

U.S. INVESTMENT IN PACIFIC

In an exclusive interview with Hawaii News Now, Palau President Surangel Whipps, Jr., talked about efforts to attract more U.S. investment in the region to balance increasing investment and influence by Chinese companies.

Whipps was among the Pacific Island leaders attending the inaugural Pacific Agenda Summit with U.S. government officials and business executives at the East-West Center this week.

The two-day conference focused on “Investment, Security, and Shared Prosperity,” with a number of deals signed through the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, including a feasibility study to be led by local firm Architects Hawaii Limited into building a new modern hospital on Palau.

Whipps says Palau’s current hospital has a poor design and “salty concrete” and is being held up by shoring jacks.

He says a new, disaster-resilient hospital is critical to care for members of the Freely Associated States (FAS) who serve in the U.S. military, but don’t return to Palau because of the lack of medical care.

“We serve at some of the highest rates of any state or any country, and we want those veterans to return home,” he said.

FAS encompasses the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau, which have a “Compact of Free Association” (COFA) with the United States. The renewed compacts include provisions to provide care for those veterans.

“We keep them home, and then it builds local capacity,” he added. “So better doctors, better nurses, better biotech people, all that builds in it. And when you have that ecosystem at home, it’s higher-paying jobs. It keeps the money circulating in the economy.”

During the summit, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau affirmed the importance of improving infrastructure and bringing in U.S. investors across the Pacific, not just for regional security but also for economic growth.

Whipps said one way Palau can expand its economy is through tourism due to its proximity to Asian markets.

“We look at our area as really being the Caribbean of Asia,” he said.

Whipps added that Palau is three and a half hours from Hong Kong, four and a half from Tokyo, and five from both Seoul and Singapore.

(Source: Hawaii News Now)

MELANESIA CONTINENTAL SHELFS

Three Melanesian states have presented submissions to the United Nations on their underwater continental shelfs.

Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, there is a legal framework for coastal states to establish the outer limits of their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

Fiji joined with Solomon Islands for their joint submission on the Melanesian Borderlands Plateau region, while Vanuatu was also involved in the one in the North Fiji Basin.

The Solomons government said for the three Pacific Island states, the establishment of their extended continental shelf would enable the states to assert their entitlement to it, and represents economic opportunities that could be derived.

The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will consider the submissions.

(Source: RNZ Pacific)

SEABED REGULATIONS

UN experts have called for any new seabed regulations to be firmly grounded in international law.

Ahead of the 31st session of the International Seabed Authority, the experts said any regulatory framework must reflect states' binding obligation to protect the environment and the climate system and prevent human rights and environmental harm.

They said threats to the deep sea are threats to human rights.

The legal and technical commission of part one of the International Seabed Authority's 31st session runs from 23 February to 6 March.

(Source: RNZ Pacific)

OBSERVER BAN EXTENDED

The Samoa government extended its ban on the Samoa Observer to include coverage of a bilateral signing ceremony with Australia’s Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, held at Taumeasina Island Resort.

The event marked the signing of three memorandums of understanding covering the Pacific Policing Initiative, the Pacific Police Support Group and a Cyber Cooperation agreement. The Samoa Observer said it received an email invitation from Faaifo Faaifo of the Ministry of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

When Samoa Observer journalist Sulamanaia Manaui Faulalo and photographer Keith Ropati arrived at the venue, they were stopped by Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt’s personal security guard, Jordan Sale, who told them the Samoa Observer “was not allowed wherever the Prime Minister is.”

The journalists said Sale pushed them and told them that security “owned the area” before escorting them out of the function room and into the reception area. He then instructed Taumeasina Resort staff not to allow them back into the venue. A police officer was later called and advised the Samoa Observer team to leave the premises.

The ban on the Samoa Observer began with restrictions on access to the Prime Minister’s press conferences and later extended to swearing-in ceremonies and photographing the Prime Minister at public events. It has now been broadened to include bilateral engagements involving the government.

Last week, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his position on the ban, indicating it would remain in place.

One of the reasons cited for the ban involved a meeting with New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Vaovasamanaia Winston Peters, during which the government later released a photograph that appeared to show the Prime Minister seated on an AI-generated standard chair rather than his wheelchair.

(Source: Samoa Observer)

WORLD BANK PARTNERSHIP

The World Bank says a new partnership with Papua New Guinea aims to support reforms and investments which will create jobs.

The bank says PNG is rich in natural resources but faces significant challenges to turn this wealth into better living conditions for all Papua New Guineans.

The Country Partnership Framework includes an estimated US$1.2 billion in funding over six years.

The partnership will invest in education, health, and nutrition, and expand access to electricity, roads and basic infrastructure so rural communities can participate more fully in the economy.

The bank says agriculture has strong potential to create jobs if productivity and access to markets improve.

(Source: RNZ Pacific)