On 1 April 2022, Havtil was delegated administrative responsibility for safety, the working environment and emergency preparedness in respect of offshore mineral activities.
In January 2024, the Norwegian Parliament decided to permit mineral activities on the Norwegian shelf. Havtil then began the process of defining a regulatory framework for safety and the working environment in offshore mineral activities.
The proposed regulation applies to seabed mineral activities in general. In its expert assessment, Havtil has taken into account the activities that will occur in the next few years, which will be vessel-based surveys. This means that both the authorities and the industry will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience from such activities, including how the regulations function. Any extraction of mineral deposits from the seabed still lies some way in the future, and depends on, among other things, development of technology and assessment of environmental effects of extraction.
An English version of the regulations will be available soon.