2021 Plenary Highlights

Day Two: Thursday 20th May 2021

Thank you to all participants and attendees for the final day of the 2021 ICPC Virtual Plenary—your contribution is truly appreciated in making the event an enormous triumph! Even though Day Two occurred in a different time zone from Day One, the turnout remained strong, and many lively discussions took place.

The presentations on Day Two included:

“Fish Aggregation Devices: Hazards to Cables and Work-Arounds,” presented by Mr Simon Webster from NEC Corporation
Route Selection Developments and Surveyor's Experience,” presented by Miss Claire Lam from EGS (Asia) Ltd.
“Securing Cable System Operation & Maintenance by Correlating Transmission, Geographical, Marine and Sensing Data,” presented by Mr Jean-Francois Baget from Alcatel Submarine Networks
“Remote Marine Operations: Bringing the Concepts of Working from Home and Standardisation to the Next Level to the Cable Industry,” presented by Mr Kesvick Tan from Optic Marine
“Submarine Cable System in Arctic Waters,” presented by Mr Steen Hansen from TELE Greenland A/S

At the conclusion of the Plenary (Day Two), ICPC Vice Chairman/EGS Survey Mr. Graham Evans, moderated a very interactive panel discussion with mining contractors from the International Seabed Authority (ISA). Panelist included: Ulrich Schwarz-Schampera (ISA), Chapi Mwango (ISA), Robert Heydon (DeepGreen Metals Inc.), Daniel Rincon (DEME-GSR), Andy Palmer-Felgate (ICPC EC Member/ICPC Member organisation Edge Network Services), Kent Bressie (ICPC International Cable Law Adviser/Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis LLP) and Dean Veverka (ICPC EC Member/ ICPC Member organisation Southern Cross Cable Network).

The ICPC once again thanks you for attending the two-day 2021 ICPC Virtual Plenary and reminds you that if you missed any of the sessions, ICPC Members will have the opportunity to view the recorded presentations on-demand along with presentations that were recorded prior to the live event. Please reach out the secretariat@iscpc.org for any enquiries.

Let’s do this again in 2022—but in-person!

Day One: Wednesday 19th May 2021

Beyond the Global Pandemic – The Critical Role of Submarine Cables

Successfully commencing at 1:00pm UTC, and with over 250 delegates registered for the 2021 ICPC Virtual Plenary, there was a great turnout of attendees for Day One of the event. Not only were the presentations very informative and insightful, but expert presenters also had the opportunity to address questions from the live audience.

Day One included five presentations:

“Managing EU Directives, Marine Strategy Regulations: Case Study Spain,” presented by Mrs Mencía Martínez from AECOM
“Two Cable Breaking Flow off West Africa Triggered by 50-year Flood and Spring Tides,” presented by Professor Peter Talling from University of Durham, UK
“Monitoring an Active Submarine Fault (offshore Catania, Sicily) Using a 6-km Long Fiber-Optic Strain Cable and a Seafloor Geodetic Network: The FOCUS Experiment,” presented by Mr Marc-Andre Gutscher from Laboratoire Geoscience Ocean (CNRS / University of Brest)
“Subsea Cables as a Critical Infrastructure: Sustaining the World During a Global Crisis,” presented by Mr Owusu Nyarko-Boateng from University of Energy and Natural Resources
“The Deep Ocean—Earth’s Final Frontier,” presented by Dr Diva Amon from SpeSeas

In addition, Day One concluded with the informative panel session for the submarine cable industry titled: “Emerging Issues,” joined by Mr Kent Bressie from (Harris Wiltshire & Grannis LLP and ICPC International Cable Law Adviser), Dr Mike Clare (National Oceanography Centre and ICPC Marine Environmental Adviser), Mr Simon Webster (NEC/ICPC Member company), Mr Andrés Figoli (Telxius) and Mr Ryan Wopschall (ICPC General Manager).

To accommodate live online viewing and encourage participation from our worldwide ICPC Members, Day Two will commence at 7:00am UTC on 20th May. The ICPC thanks you in advance for attending and we look forward to seeing and hearing from you! Please note, if you miss any of the sessions, ICPC Members will have the opportunity to view the recorded presentations on-demand.

If interested in learning more about the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC), its annual Plenary, or how to become a Member organisation, please send all enquiries to secretariat@iscpc.org.