Subsea Cable News

European prosecutors are investigating possible criminal offences relating to a 1.9 billion euro ($2 billion) EU-financed project to build a subsea electric cable linking Europe to the eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus's president and the prosecuting agency said.Greek power grid operator IPTO is building the Great Sea Interconnector cable to link European and Cypriot transmission networks and later extend to Israel.The project has been hit by multiple delays, and Nicosia has sought clarifications on its cost and viability.

The captain of an oil tanker and two officers accused of severing five undersea power and telecoms cables in the Baltic Sea last December, blamed technical faults for the damage as their trial began in Helsinki on Monday.NATO allies with forces stationed around the Baltic Sea went on high alert after the December 25 incident, one of a string of suspicious cable and gas pipeline outages in the region since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.Prosecutors say the Eagle S tanker deliberately dragged its 11…

Finland's national prosecutor's office said on Monday it had brought charges against the captain and first and second officers of the Eagle S oil tanker over the cutting of undersea cables in the Gulf of Finland in December.The Georgian and Indian nationals are suspected of aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications by dragging the ship's anchor for around 90 km (56 miles) across the seabed, a prosecutors' statement said.The defendants, who are not permitted to leave Finland, have denied committing the offences and consider that Finland also lacks jurisdiction

Three Republican House lawmakers on Monday asked the CEOs of Alphabet, Facebook parent Meta, Amazon.com and Microsoft if they have adopted adequate safeguards to address growing national security concerns on submarine communications cables.Washington has been raising alarm about the network of more than 400 subsea cables that handle 99% of international internet traffic and about threats from China and Russia.The letter raised concerns that entities affiliated with China "such as SBSS…

The captain of a Hong Kong-registered ship alleged to have damaged undersea cables in the Baltic Sea was assigned a lawyer in a Hong Kong court on Friday, with the case adjourned until September to allow the prosecution to gather more evidence.Wan Wenguo, the captain of the container ship NewNew Polar Bear, appeared in Hong Kong's Eastern magistrates' court without legal representation so was assigned a duty lawyer by the court.The 43-year-old Chinese national is alleged to have…

Britain has rejected a 25 billion pound ($34.39 billion) Moroccan renewable energy project that would have used solar and wind power from the Sahara to supply up to seven million UK homes.The British government, which is aiming to largely decarbonise its electricity sector by 2030, said on Thursday it believed domestic projects could offer better economic benefits."The government has concluded that it is not in the UK national interest at this time to continue further consideration of support for the Morocco-UK Power Project," energy department minister Michael Shanks said in a written stateme

China's government on Friday said Taiwan was deliberately politicising the damage of undersea communication cables as part of a smear campaign, expressing anger after the island jailed a Chinese ship captain for an incident earlier this year.A Taiwanese court on Thursday sentenced the captain of the Togo-flagged ship to three years in jail after finding him guilty of intentionally damaging undersea cables off the island in February, in an incident that alarmed Taiwan officials.In a statement, China's Taiwan Affairs Office said that damage to maritime cables were "common accidents", saying Taiw

A Singapore government-appointed company will develop a subsea interconnector with Singa Renewables, a joint venture between Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) and France's TotalEnergies for low-carbon electricity imports from Indonesia.Singapore Energy Interconnections (SGEI), a company appointed by the Singapore government to oversee the development of interconnections to enable electricity imports into Singapore, said on Friday that it had inked a memorandum of understanding with Singa Renewables for the project.However, the companies did not give any financial details or say when the project would b

Finnish power grid operator Fingrid said on Friday it expects the Estlink 2 subsea power cable between Finland and Estonia, which was damaged in December, to return to commercial use on June 25, slightly earlier than seen before.Fingrid, which last month predicted the cable would be back in operation on July 15, said in a statement repair work was progressing faster than expected.Finnish authorities in December seized a ship carrying Russian oil in the Baltic Sea on suspicion it caused the outage by dragging its anchor across the power cable as well as four internet lines.(Reuters/Reporting by

Poland is looking into whether any explosive devices were planted where a ship from Russia's "shadow fleet" was seen moving suspiciously near a power cable linking Poland with Sweden on Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.NATO has beefed up security in the Baltic following a string of incidents in which power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines were damaged in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022."Shadow fleet" refers to vessels used by Russia to ship oil…

A Swedish probe found no conclusive evidence to suggest that a Chinese ship had deliberately dragged its anchor to damage two Baltic Sea cables, Sweden's Accident Investigation Authority said on Tuesday, though a separate investigation remains under way.The Yi Peng 3 bulk carrier has been under investigation for dragging its anchor and breaching two subsea fibre-optic communications cables in Swedish economic waters, one linking Finland and Germany and the other connecting Sweden to Lithuania, on November 17-18 last year."It cannot be determined with certainty whether a Chinese ship intentiona

A project on a subsea power cable to link continental Europe to the East Mediterranean will materialize, Greek foreign minister said on Thursday after meeting his Israeli and Cypriot counterparts.Media reports earlier this week suggested that the project had stalled over territorial differences.Greek power grid operator IPTO ADMr.AT is building the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) cable, which will link transmission networks of Europe to Cyprus. It will later stretch to Israel through the Mediterranean Sea.(Reuters)

The Baltic Sea region is on high alert after a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and the NATO military alliance has boosted its presence with frigates, aircraft and naval drones.Several investigations are under way but no suspects have been brought to trial.FEBRUARY 2025: FINLAND-GERMANY TELECOM CABLESwedish and Finnish police said on February 21 they were investigating a suspected case of sabotage of an undersea telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea…

Sweden is investigating a possible breach of an undersea cable off the country's southwestern coast in the Baltic Sea, the coastguard said on Friday, in an area where multiple seabed cables have been damaged in recent months.The Baltic Sea region is on alert and the NATO alliance has boosted its presence after a series of power cable, telecom and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

An undersea fibre optic cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged on Sunday, likely as a result of external influence, Latvia said, triggering an investigation by local and NATO maritime forces in the Baltic Sea."We have determined that there is most likely external damage and that it is significant," Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina told reporters following an extraordinary government meeting.Latvia is coordinating with NATO and the countries of the Baltic Sea region to clarify the circumstances…

Sweden is asking a Chinese vessel to return to Swedish waters to help facilitate the Nordic country's investigation into recent breaches of undersea fibre-optic cables in the Baltic Sea, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday.Two subsea cables, one linking Finland and Germany and the other connecting Sweden to Lithuania, were damaged in less than 24 hours on Nov. 17-18, raising suspicions of sabotage, countries and companies involved said.Denmark's military said soon afterwards that its vessels were staying close to Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3…

China indicated it is willing to maintain communication with relevant parties and to jointly safeguard the security of international submarine infrastructure, its foreign ministry said.Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks when asked about a Chinese ship in Danish waters, and Finland and Sweden's investigation into the two severed fiber-optic data telecommunication cables in the Baltic Sea. Lin said he was not aware of the details of the ship.The Danish military said on Wednesday that it was staying close to Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 currently sitting idle in a strait between Denmark and Sweden, but did not mention the cable breaches or say why it was staying with the ship.(Reuters)

The Federal Communications Commission voted 5-0 to propose new rules governing undersea internet cables in the face of growing security concerns in the wake of two fiber-optic undersea telecommunication cables being severed in the Baltic Sea this week, which is suspected to be sabotage.The FCC eyes new rules to address the national security concerns over the global network of more than 400 subsea cables that handle more than 98% of international internet traffic."With the expansion of data centers…