International Cable Protection Committee

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.

Each year, the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) sponsors the Rhodes Academy-ICPC Submarine Cables Writing Award for a deserving paper addressing submarine cables and their relationship with the law of the sea. With the award, the ICPC seeks to foster scholarship regarding submarine cables and the law of the sea and promote the rule of law as applied to submarine cables. In 2020, the selection jury chose Mr Yang Wenlan as the winner for his paper “Protecting Submarine Cables from Physical Damage under Investment Law.”

Rhodes Academy. Each year, the Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law and Policy 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 (including ICPC representatives) about the law of the sea and its key legal instrument, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It is organised by a consortium of research universities and institutes, led by the University of New Hampshire. The Rhodes Academy’s twenty-fifth session will convene virtually from 4-14 July 2021. Numerous students affiliated with ICPC Members have graduated from the Rhodes Academy. The ICPC is proud to support the Rhodes Academy. For more information about the Rhodes Academy (including application procedures), see https://marine.unh.edu/academics/rhodes-academy.

The Award. The award winner will receive either guaranteed admission and a full scholarship (covering the attendance fee, travel expenses, and shared hotel room) to a future Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law and Policy, or for a graduate of the Rhodes Academy from a prior year, a cash award of GB £4,500. The winner will also be invited to speak at the ICPC Plenary meeting in 2022.

Eligibility and Process. The Rhodes Academy-ICPC Submarine Cables Writing Award is open to: any person aspiring to attend the Rhodes Academy (the candidate must meet the admissions requirements), or a Rhodes Academy Graduate from a prior year. Papers should be suitable for publication in a scholarly international law journal and must consist of 7,500 – 10,000 words (excluding footnotes). To register to compete for the award, interested candidates should send an abstract (no more than 300 words) and a short biography to the Centre for International Law (CIL) at the National University of Singapore, lawtmd@nus.edu.sg, which administers the competition on behalf of ICPC and the Rhodes Academy. Papers must be submitted to CIL, also at lawtmd@nus.edu.sg, no later than 1 April 2021. Papers will be reviewed anonymously by the selection jury, consisting of three members designated by the Rhodes Academy and one by the ICPC.