PORTSMOUTH, United Kingdom—The International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) and the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore (CIL) released their joint report, Law of the Sea and Submarine Cables, addressing key law of the sea issues and prospects for collaboration between industry and governments on installation, repair, protection, and security of submarine cables. Submarine cables, which provide more than 99 percent of the world’s intercontinental connectivity, depend critically on a stable international and national legal and regulatory regimes.

This report results from a one-day law of the sea workshop jointly organised by the ICPC and CIL—with support from Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) Singapore and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)—following the ICPC’s annual Plenary meeting in Singapore in May 2024. The workshop brought together representatives from the submarine cable industry, academia, and more than 50 government delegates from ASEAN countries, to consider how these challenges can be addressed under existing international law (or its absence) through increased collaboration between the cable industry and governments. As with the workshop, the report is divided into four segments: (1) spatial and competing use issues in the oceans; (2) permits and policies for laying and repair of cables; (3) cable security; and (4) implications of the new agreement for conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, the so-called BBNJ treaty.

Among other recommendations, with respect to spatial separation and competing uses, the report recommends that governments:

• Improve coordination across agencies and departments to ensure proper treatment of and prioritisation of submarine cable installation and repair; and
• Establish single points of contact for submarine cable matters; and that they work with submarine cable operators to:
• Ensure coordination with other marine industries at the earliest stages of project development; and
• Enhance cable awareness programs.

With respect to permits and policies, the report recommends that governments:

• Develop and implement transparent and stable regulatory regimes with enumerated requirements and timeframes;
• Abide by their UNCLOS commitments and jurisdictional limitations therein; and
• Consider how their environmental policies and marine spatial planning can magnify risks to submarine cable resilience.

With respect to security, the report recommends that governments and submarine cable operators:

• Recognise shared responsibility for cable security;
• Share risk and threat information (in both directions); and
• Ensure that cables continue to appear on nautical charts, in order to mitigate the principal risks of damage from fishing and vessel anchors.
• It also recommended that governments ratify the 1884 Cable Protection Convention.

With respect to the BBNJ treaty, the report recommends that governments and submarine cable operators:

• Continue to engage directly on the implementation of the treaty and its treatment of submarine cables; and
• Work with treaty bodies make use of submarine cable expertise and the best available science.

About the ICPC: The ICPC is the world’s leading organisation promoting submarine cable protection and resilience. The ICPC works with its members, governments, international organisations, other marine industries, and the scientific community to: mitigate risks of natural and human damage to cables; develop recommendations and best practices for industry and governments throughout the cable project life cycle; promote scientific research addressing how cables exist in the marine environment; and promote the rule of law for the oceans. Founded in 1958 the ICPC has over 220 members from over 70 nations, including cable operators, owners, manufacturers, and industry service providers, as well as governments.

ICPC Contact:
Kent Bressie, International Law Adviser, ICPC
+1 202 730 1337
kbressie@hwglaw.com

PORTSMOUTH, United Kingdom & DURHAM, N.H.—Each year, the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) and the Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law and Policy (Rhodes Academy) sponsor the Rhodes Academy-ICPC Submarine Cables Writing Award for a deserving paper addressing submarine cables and their relationship with the law of the sea. Applicants to, and graduates of, the Rhodes Academy are eligible to compete for the award, in a competition administered by the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore. With the award, the ICPC and the Rhodes Academy seek to foster scholarship regarding submarine cables (the infrastructure of the Internet) and the law of the sea and promote the rule of law as applied to submarine cables. The referees of the 2024 competition chose Albert Vlodder of Canada as the winner for his paper, ‘The Consequences of Damaging Submarine Cables: An Examination of the Applicability of Effects Jurisdiction over the Unlawful Act of Damaging Submarine Cables on the High Seas.’ Vlodder is currently a Doctoral Researcher at Åbo Akademi University in Finland.

The Rhodes Academy. Each year, the Rhodes Academy brings together approximately 50 mid-career professionals from around the world to study and learn from leading ocean law and science scholars, judges, and practitioners about the law of the sea and its key legal instrument, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Academy is organised by a consortium of research universities and institutes, led by the School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering at the University of New Hampshire. For more information about the Rhodes Academy and the writing competition, see https://marine.unh.edu/academics/rhodes-academy and https://marine.unh.edu/international-cable-protection-committee-writing-award.

The Award. Each year, the winner will receive either guaranteed admission and a full scholarship (covering the attendance fee, travel expenses, and shared hotel room) to the Rhodes Academy, or for a Rhodes Academy graduate from a prior year, a cash award of £4,500. The winner will receive assistance from the Rhodes Academy in seeking publication of the winning paper and will also be invited to speak at the next ICPC Plenary meeting. The papers of all past winners have been published in peer-reviewed journals.

About the ICPC. ICPC is the world’s leading organisation promoting submarine cable protection and resilience. The ICPC works with its members, governments, international organisations, other marine industries, and the scientific community to: mitigate risks of natural and human damage to cables; develop recommendations and best practices for industry and governments throughout the cable project life cycle; promote scientific research addressing how cables exist in the marine environment; and promote the rule of law for the oceans. Founded in 1958 the ICPC has over 220 members from over 70 nations, including cable operators, owners, manufacturers, and industry service providers, as well as governments. For further information about the ICPC, visit www.iscpc.org and www.linkedin.com/company/icpc-ltd/.

ICPC Contact:
Kent Bressie, International Law Adviser, ICPC
+1 202 730 1337
kbressie@hwglaw.com

Rhodes Academy Contact:
Judy Ellis, Rhodes Academy Administrator
School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering, University of New Hampshire
judy.ellis@unh.edu

The International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC), the world’s leading organisation promoting submarine cable protection and resilience, recently held its annual Plenary session in Singapore with over 200 delegates from around the world under the theme ‘ensuring a connected future.’ A cornerstone event for the organisation, the ICPC Plenary attracted global attendance and provided valuable opportunities to exchange ideas on the planning, installation, operation, protection, and maintenance of cables, as well as recovery and recycling of out of service cables. The well-attended event provided an opportunity to learn from colleagues facing similar challenges, and to get up to date with environmental and legal aspects of submarine cables via presentations, round tables, keynote interviews, exhibits and networking opportunities.

Keynote speaker Ambassador Rena Lee, President of the United Nations Intergovernmental Conference for the BBNJ negotiations, CEO of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2024, discussed the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) treaty and its progress.

Guest speaker Ms Aileen Chia, Director-General, Telecoms and Post, at IMDA Singapore, provided insights into how Singapore is actively advancing their digital connectivity blueprint, which includes data centers and the networks that interconnect them, overland and undersea.

This year’s Plenary included a one-day law of the sea workshop jointly organised by the ICPC and the Centre for International Law of the National University of Singapore with support from Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) Singapore and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The goal of the workshop was to discuss prospects for collaboration between governments and industry on the laying, repair, protection, and security of submarine cables. The workshop brought together representatives from the submarine cable industry, academia, and more than 50 government delegates from ASEAN countries, to consider how these challenges can be addressed under existing international law (or its absence) through increased collaboration between the cable industry and governments.

At the conclusion of the Plenary, it was also announced the 2025 annual event will be held in Montréal, Québec, Canada. For further details about the 2024 ICPC Plenary, read all the highlights here.

About the ICPC: To promote submarine cable protection and resilience, the ICPC works with its members, governments, international organisations, other marine industries, and the scientific community to: mitigate risks of natural and human damage to cables; develop recommendations and best practices for industry and governments throughout the cable project life cycle; promote scientific research addressing how cables exist in the marine environment; and promote the rule of law for the oceans. The ICPC has more than 215 member organisations from 70 countries who build, operate, and maintain submarine telecommunications and power cable infrastructure. To learn more about the ICPC, visit: www.iscpc.org or send an e-mail to secretariat@iscpc.org.