International Cable Protection Committee

In May 2021, The International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) launched a campaign to hire a UK-based Project Manager, and after a thorough review process of qualified candidates, the ICPC has selected Mr John Wrottesley to fill this new role and they are pleased to announce his contract with the organisation commenced on 14th September 2021. Mr Wrottesley joins the team from Red Penguin (an Associate Member company of the ICPC).

As Project Manager, Mr Wrottesley will coordinate and oversee the organisation’s sponsored projects and additional research initiatives as well as ICPC Recommendations (which are document guides to aid the submarine cable industry in promoting the highest goals of reliability and safety in the submarine cable environment). The new Project Manager will work under the oversight of the ICPC General Manager, Mr Ryan Wopschall, and will collaborate closely with the Secretariat, the Executive Committee, International Cable Law Adviser, Marine Environmental Adviser, and UN Observer Representative.

Mr Wrottesley has been working in the submarine cable industry for 13 years, primarily in permitting for cables relating to the telecommunications, energy (offshore wind and interconnectors) and oil and gas industries around the globe. He has been involved in submarine cable industry bodies for many years and was the Chairman of the Technical and Regulatory Subgroup within European Subsea Cables Association (ESCA). Presently, he is the Liaison Officer for ESCA in addition to his work for the ICPC.

When asked about his new appointment, Mr Wrottesley stated, ‘Having already being very familiar with the ICPC over the years, I am honoured to now be involved in the significant day-to-day activities of the ICPC and grateful to operate more closely on their achievements for the worldwide submarine cable community. I look forward to working with the ICPC General Manager, Secretariat, EC and Advisers, and contributing to the continued great work undertaken by the ICPC.’

The International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) is pleased to announce the launch of Government Best Practices for Protecting and Promoting Resilience of Submarine Telecommunications Cables to assist governments in developing laws, policies, and practices to foster the development and protection of submarine telecommunications cables, the infrastructure of the Internet. The Best Practices are now available in both English [?] and Spanish [?] on the public section of ICPC’s web site.

The Best Practices first set forth a set of general principles to guide governments in cable protection and resilience, including the need to focus on statistically significant risks of cable damage, and the use of regulatory frameworks to enhance geographic diversity, promote the rule of law; and promote speedy infrastructure deployment and repair. The Best Practices then identify cable damage risks and other regulatory challenges—ranging from fishing and anchoring risks to spatial separation from other marine activities to cabotage—and make specific recommendations for governmental practices to reduce risk, promote connectivity, and improve regulation.

‘As the world’s preeminent cable protection organisation, ICPC has long promoted government best practices in workshops and consultations, but it had never codified its own thinking on these issues in a public document,’ said Kent Bressie, ICPC’s International Cable Law Adviser and the principal author of the Best Practices. ‘Now, when governments seek industry views on cable protection and resilience, we can share ICPC’s views in a practical and accessible guide.’

As with ICPC’s Recommendations, the Best Practices will be updated periodically to address emerging issues in industry and in the marine environment. They may be supplemented by annexes addressing particular issues in detail, such as with fish aggregation devices, for which ICPC’s FAD Working Group is developing more detailed best practices.

Forthcoming Webinar. To assist ICPC Members in understanding the Best Practices and how they might be used in discussions with governments, ICPC will host a forthcoming webinar.

Devoted to the safeguarding of submarine telecommunications and power cables, the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) is pleased to announce the success of its first-ever virtual Plenary meeting. In a specially developed website setting designed to host both live and pre-recorded presentations from around the world, the organisation hosted more than 300 delegates and broadcasted over eight hours of live presentations and panel discussions across different time zones from 19-20 May 2021.

Under the theme, ‘Beyond the Global Pandemic—The Critical Role of Submarine Cables,’ the 2021 virtual Plenary was an opportunity to hear about emerging topics in the submarine cable industry as well as to provide a venue to learn from hydrographic survey companies, system installers, service providers, cable owners, and marine and environmental researchers. In-line with the ICPC’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the event concluded with a much-anticipated panel on the coordination between the submarine cable industry and deep seabed mining. Panellists included members of the ISA, seabed mining contractors, submarine cable owners and operations, and was moderated by ICPC Vice Chairman, Mr Graham Evans.

When asked about the event, ICPC General Manager Mr Ryan Wopschall commented, ‘With twelve live presentations over two days and with more than forty presentations from Members and invited speakers, the virtual Plenary meeting out-performed our expectations and was a great success. Although we could not meet in-person this year, the online platform gathered a substantial number of people together from around the world for lively discussion and knowledge sharing about the submarine cable industry’s most pertinent topics. The event was a fantastic touch-point for our industry during these challenging times.”

Also incorporated into the programme, ICPC Members had the opportunity to listen to ‘year in review’ presentations from the organisation’s International Cable Law Adviser, Marine Environmental Adviser and UN Observer Representative as well as hear from Member project experiences, Working Group reports and outreach activities. If you are a non-ICPC Member, and would like to learn more, visit the 2021 Plenary Highlights page to read about the specific topics that were presented. Later this year, the ICPC will be announcing its ‘Call for Papers’ for the 2022 Plenary to be held in-person in Madrid, Spain.