Need to Protect Underwater Cables and Pipelines from Emerging Threats

The increasing reliance on subsea infrastructure poses significant risks that require safeguarding to protect undersea assets. This infrastructure, including communication cables, pipelines, and electricity cables, plays a crucial role in maintaining global connectivity and supporting various sectors such as finance, military, and energy. As the number of submarine cables continues to grow, reaching over 600 active and planned cables, the vulnerabilities of these systems are becoming more apparent and require robust defense mechanisms.

Subsea infrastructure faces various vulnerabilities, including physical threats and attacks from state and non-state actors. The lack of immediate human presence at these sites makes physical threats, such as attacks on fiber optic cables, relatively easy to execute. Coordinated attacks on critical nodes, like landing stations, could lead to cascading failures with significant economic and societal repercussions. The rise of autonomous underwater vehicles and drones introduces new threats, as these technologies can be exploited for surveillance or direct attacks on subsea assets.

To defend subsea infrastructure effectively, international and regional partnerships are crucial. Initiatives like SeaSEC in the North and Baltic Seas aim to develop advanced monitoring methods for underwater infrastructure. Public-private collaborations, like the German Argus project, leverage big data and AI technologies to protect critical underwater infrastructure. Technological solutions, such as detection and inspection technologies using ROVs and AUVs, play a vital role in enhancing security measures. By implementing proactive and reactive measures, analyzing maritime activity data, and diversifying supply chains, the resilience of subsea infrastructure can be improved to mitigate risks and ensure continuous operations.

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