As the International Seabed Authority (ISA) meets in Jamaica this week, deep sea explorer and private equity investor Victor Vescovo flew to Kingston on Monday to make the business case against mining the ocean for valuable metals.
"I didn’t come here because I’m a raving ocean environmentalist. I’m not,” Vescovo said at a side event hosted by environmental group WWF. "I’m first and foremost an industrial private equity guy. I did the math and deep sea mining just doesn’t work, as the risks are extraordinarily high.”
Vescovo in 2019 became the first person to venture to the deepest trenches in the world’s five oceans, including piloting a submersible nearly 7 miles down to the Challenger Deep. He is also the co-founder of Texas private equity firm Insight Equity Holdings.