The Belgian state sponsored that application to the Seabed Authority in Kingston. Since then, GSR and Belgian administrations have been intimately intertwined. So intimately that DEME-GSR has at times acted impertinently. This is evidenced by hundreds of emails going back and forth between the two parties.
One notable aim of DEME-GSR: the firm wants to speak to the Seabed Authority itself, rather than Belgian diplomacy. 'Because we invest hundreds of millions,' the firm reasons, 'we are entitled to do so'. Sometimes DEME-GSR even says so out loud.
Photo: Alain Bernard — still CEO of DEME in 2019 — addresses the Council of the Seabed Authority in Kingston. Next to him is Guy Sevrin, then Belgian ambassador to Jamaica. — © International Seabed Authority
