Secretary of the Maritime Affairs Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rear Admiral (retd) Md Khurshed Alam has been elected as the president of the 26th session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA).
ISA was established in 1994, pursuant to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea-1982, and is aimed at administering the mineral resources of the deep seabed beyond areas of national jurisdiction.
ISA, having its headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica is the organization through which state parties to UNCLOS organize and control all mineral-resources-related activities in the area for the benefit of mankind as a whole. In doing so, ISA has the mandate to ensure the effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects that may arise from deep-seabed related activities.
Alam was elected to preside over the 26th session on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the members of the ISA have endorsed a proposal to take decisions of a procedural nature during the 26th session of the assembly, including its opening, through a silence procedure similar to the process adopted by the 30th meeting of states parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Henceforth, as endorsed by the Asia-pacific Group (APG), the secretary of the Maritime Affairs Unit was elected following a silent procedure and took over the charge for a period until the next elections held for the 27th session.
Rear Admiral (retd) Md Khurshed Alam had also been elected before, as president of the 168-member 22nd assembly in 2016 which was the first time for Bangladesh to be elected in such a position in the ISA.
Bangladesh has been actively participating in ISA as a member state as well as a member of council. Bangladesh has been a council member for consecutive three 4-year terms; 2009-12, 2013-16 and 2017-2020.
As endorsed by the APG, Bangladesh has also floated her candidature for the membership of the ISA Council for 2021-24 periods. The elections for this will be held in the upcoming assembly of the ISA.
