22.04.2026

From Mare Nostrum to Hub Nostrum

Last week, Oceans & Cables took part in the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) Plenary Meeting in Athens, one of the most important global forums dedicated to submarine cable protection and resilience.

At this year’s conference, our team delivered a presentation titled: Infrastructure Diplomacy: Paving the Way for Mediterranean Cooperation – The Mediterranean as a Strategic Digital Hub.

This contribution reflects not only our technical expertise, but also our growing role in shaping the strategic conversation around global connectivity.

The Mediterranean: No Longer Just a Sea

For centuries, the Mediterranean has been a crossroads of civilizations, trade, and geopolitical power. Today, it is undergoing a profound transformation. It is becoming something far more critical, a central hub of global digital infrastructure.

Submarine cables crossing the Mediterranean now carry a significant portion of intercontinental internet traffic, linking Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. What was once seen as a transit corridor is now a strategic digital backbone. Our presentation explored this evolution, from Mare Nostrum to what we define as Hub Nostrum, a region where geography and digital connectivity converge.

Understanding Power Beneath the Sea

At the core of our research lies a powerful analytical concept: Betweenness Centrality.

In simple terms, this metric helps identify which nodes in a network are most critical for connecting others. Our analysis highlighted key Mediterranean hubs such as:

• Egypt – the primary gateway between Europe and Asia
• Sicily – a crucial entry point into Europe

This strategic relevance is increasingly reflected in policy decisions. Recent developments point to Sicily being selected as the location for a new European hub dedicated to monitoring submarine cable infrastructure, aimed at strengthening risk detection, incident response, and overall network security. The initiative underscores both the concentration of critical routes in the region and the growing recognition that safeguarding these infrastructures is essential to European digital sovereignty.

• Marseille – a major western European connectivity hub
• Greece and Cyprus – important regional relays

These locations are not just infrastructure points, they are geopolitical assets.

The Centrality Paradox: Opportunity vs Vulnerability

One of the key messages of our presentation was what we call the centrality paradox. Recent real-world incidents, such as cable disruptions in the Red Sea and earlier events near Egypt demonstrate how failures in one location can ripple across entire regions. In a hyper-connected world, local damage becomes global disruption.

Why Governance Matters More Than Ever

Submarine cable systems are inherently transnational. Yet, governance often remains fragmented across jurisdictions. At ICPC Athens 2026, Oceans & Cables advanced a clear position: The future of submarine infrastructure depends on cooperation, not fragmentation. We introduced the concept of infrastructure diplomacy – a framework for managing shared digital assets through coordinated action.

Our recommendations included:

• Regulatory alignment across Mediterranean countries
• Faster and coordinated permitting processes
• Stronger public-private collaboration
• Shared emergency and repair protocols
• Investment in route diversification and redundancy

Oceans & Cables: At the Intersection of Infrastructure and Strategy

Our participation at ICPC Athens 2026 reflects who we are as a company. Oceans & Cables operates where engineering meets geopolitics. We support governments, telecom operators, and global stakeholders across the full lifecycle of submarine cable projects, combining technical excellence with strategic insight.

In today’s environment, submarine cables are no longer just infrastructure, they are economic lifelines, they are security assets and they are instruments of geopolitical influence. Managing them requires more than engineering, it requires vision.

The Mediterranean is no longer on the margins of global connectivity. It is at its core. But with this centrality comes responsibility. As we concluded in Athens: Digital corridors must not become fault lines of fragmentation, but platforms for cooperation. At Oceans & Cables, we remain committed to advancing this vision, helping shape a Mediterranean that is not only connected, but resilient, secure, and collaboratively governed.

Oceans & Cables Limited is a company based in Malta, founded in 2014, operating in the submarine cable industry and related technical services, working with various industries and markets globally. Our specialisation is in the consultancy, planning and implementation of the submarine cable industry for governmental entities, commercial corporations, and offshore renewable energy companies around the world. For more information about Oceans & Cables, please contact us on info@oceanscables.com.

Article written by Ms Charlene Sciberras, Director at Oceans & Cables Limited.