Submarine cable resilience board announced on same day maybe-cut-by-China Baltic cable repaired

On the same day that a submarine cable suspected of having been cut by a Chinese ship was repaired, two major telco bodies convened a submarine telecommunication cable resilience advisory board.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) announced the board last Friday, November 29.

The 40-member body includes global ministers, regulators, industry leaders, and experts. Its goal is to promote best practices for both government and industry to ensure timely repair of the cables spanning the globe and reduce the risk of damage for enhanced continuity of communication.

Although sabotage is a suspected cause of cable outages, most damage to cables occurs from accidental human activity – such as fishing and anchoring. Natural hazards, abrasion and equipment failure also account for many faults, according to the ITU.

Indeed no mention is made of intentional cable damage in the ITU's report.

The ICPC calculates that an average of 150 to 200 faults occur worldwide each year, requiring about three cable repairs per week.

Three repairs a week globally may not seem overwhelming, but considering the amount of traffic carried over the cables and how critical they've become, ITU and ICPC believe a governing board is necessary.

"Submarine cables carry over 99 per cent of international data exchanges, making their resilience a global imperative," commented ITU secretary-general Doreen Bogdan-Martin.

The inaugural Submarine Cable Resilience Summit in early 2025 will be the first physical meeting of the board, held in Abuja, Nigeria. Meetings will occur twice yearly, beginning virtually in December 2024.

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While the ICPC and ITU have not indicated they are considering sabotage as a cause of cable damage, the timing of the board's creation coincides with the revelation that the Danish military monitored a Chinese ship suspected of deliberately damaging two cables in the Baltic Sea a couple of weeks back.

China has denied involvement. But the ship in question, Yi Peng 3, passed by the cables around the time each was damaged, according to marine tracking data. The cause of the cable damage is being explored by Finland's National Bureau of Investigation.

On the same day as the cable resilience board was announced, news emerged that the cable – which connects Finland and Germany – was back online and fully operational.

"The fault in the submarine cable was detected on Monday 18th of November 2024 at 4:04AM, and the repair work in the Swedish [exclusive economic zone] EEZ, east of Öland, was completed ahead of schedule on Thursday 28th of November 2024 at 9PM (EET)," announced Cinia, the operator of the cable, whose majority owner is the Finnish state.

The repair was completed quickly, it said, despite the need to bring in specialized equipment from beyond the Baltic. Cinia claimed the cable outage caused only minimal disruption, but its damage highlighted the need to stay vigilant on creating redundancy systems.

CEO Ari-Jussi Knaapila declared: "The security of critical submarine infrastructure needs to be improved, and international rules need to be strengthened to increase the risk of getting caught in cases of intentional damage." ®