17 Interpretation

In this Act—

• " ancillary operations ", in relation to any licensed operations, means any activity carried on by or on behalf of the licensee which is ancillary to the licensed operations (including the processing and transportation of any substances recovered);

• " deep sea bed " has the meaning given by section 1 above;

• " deep sea bed mining operations " means any exploration or exploitation of the hard mineral resources of the deep sea bed;

• " exploitation " means commercial exploitation;

• " exploitation licence " has the meaning given by section 2 above;

• " exploration ", in relation to the hard mineral resources of any part of the deep sea bed, means the investigation of that part of the deep sea bed for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the hard mineral resources of that part of the deep sea bed can be commercially exploited;

• " exploration licence " has the meaning given by section 2 above;

• " hard mineral resources " has the meaning given by section 1 above;

• " inspector " means a person appointed as inspector under section 11 above ;

• " licensed area " means any part of the deep sea bed in respect of which there is in force an exploration or exploitation licence;

• " licensed operations" means any activities which the licensee may carry on by virtue of his licence;

• " licensee " means the holder of an exploration or exploitation licence;

• " prescribed " means prescribed by regulations under section 12 above;

• " reciprocal authorisation" has the meaning given by section 3 above;

• " reciprocating country " means a country designated as such by an Order under section 3 above ; and

• " ship " includes every description of vessel used in navigation.