28.02.2023

The importance of protecting the global submarine cables infrastructure is a common global. This data cable network is a vital infrastructure since the digital world, such as the digital economy, digital services, military operations, and more are depending on it.

In terms of operations, regulations and protection, the undersea cable network is a complex setup of various operators: telecommunication agencies, coast guards, marine police, military protection, and others. The international treaty negotiations governing submarine cables date back to the 1884 International Convention for the Protection of Submarine Telegraph Cables. Nowadays this is part of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). But as these cables lay underwater, they seem to be forgotten or taken for granted by policymakers as a phenomenon called sea blindness.

However, with the recent and ongoing 2022 Ukraine war, and various malicious and targeted attacks of sabotage, the submarine cable industry is receiving public attention. Submarine cables are under threat during wartime due to increased terrorism and piracy, for a struggle of power. This can be seen through the September 2022 events, when Denmark and Sweden discovered four major leaks because of deliberate sabotage in Nord Stream 1 and 2 in the subsea gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany. Following this, Germany experienced another sabotage when fibre optic communication cables that were cut as a targeted action. Norway has also experienced further sabotage in its energy infrastructure by Russian intelligence services. And there is more.

Thanks to this wake-up call, the industry is undergoing a major shift as governments across the globe are recognising the importance of the subsea cables for communications, security, and digital economy. The protection of this core infrastructure has become more significant and is gaining seriousness in the geopolitical world where big politicians are now all in a race to protect their infrastructure. But this should not only be on every politician’s agenda. Service providers and suppliers to the industry should also contribute to the safety and security of these cables. As Oceans & Cables is a member of the International Cable Protection Committee, we share the same vision with them, to be recognised as the ‘Guardian of the Subsea Cable Infrastructure’ and is working to provide leadership, guidance, and a voice for the industry to promote awareness of the submarine cables safety and security.

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 energy companies around the world. For more information about Oceans & Cables, please contact us on info@oceanscables.com.

Article written by guest writer Ms Charlene Sciberras.

07.02.2023

The global submarine cable market size was estimated at USD25.50 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.1% from 2022 to 2030. One of the major factors driving this market is the increasing investments in offshore wind farms, amongst others of course such as the ever increasing data traffic. This is according to the Market Analysis Report by Grand View Search – Submarine Cable Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report 2022 – 2030. We know that submarine cables are widely used as a transmission mode of data, but it’s also important to know and understand that these cables are also widely used for power transmission to oil rigs and power generated from offshore wind farms to the power station.

The rise of wind power as an offshore renewable energy is an infinite energy source with a potential to supply large amount of green sustainable energy. And as the world is trying to tackle climate change and reduce greenhouse gases, offshore wind power plays an important role in the electricity generation. Progressively, the growth of offshore winds farms is expected to fuel the renewable energy sectors as more countries become aware of this opportunity and governments get ready to invest in it.

More wind farms only mean more demand for submarine cables solutions. As offshore wind continues to move further away from land to reach a fuller potential with stronger and consistent winds, the submarine cabling systems are gaining more importance in the wind power sector not only due to the need of connecting bigger turbines to one another in larger distances but also in deeper waters and connecting the far-away offshore substations to the onshore stations. This is why the submarine cables for the offshore wind power is getting more sophisticated and complex, thus outlining the importance of submarines cables for the offshore wind energy supply.

Undoubtedly, as wind power generation is leading as the new renewable energy solution, the submarine cables are gaining even more importance in this sector and are being transformed into something more dynamic to reflect this industry. In the meantime, all these critical infrastructures -telecommunication and power cables, pipelines, wellheads from O&G, and so on – need to be protected and watched over by the international community with rules, technology, and respect because they are a common global.

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 energy companies around the world. For more information about Oceans & Cables, please contact us on info@oceanscables.com.

Article written by guest writer Ms Charlene Sciberras.

12.12.2022

The telecommunication infrastructure across the world is huge. Made up of cables on land and under the ocean, this infrastructure serves a wide range of uses to provide data transmission.

As outlined in our previous blog post, Our Globe, our Oceans and Submarine Cables, we are living in a digital age: Big data, high speed Internet, demand for higher bandwidth globally, requires strong connectivity between data centres thus raising the importance of submarine cables within the telecom sector. Big politicians are all in a race to achieve technological growth. Digitalisation and technological innovation are on every politician’s agenda, and countries want to be on the forefront of the digital world to control and win the power. This is only possible thanks to the huge network of submarine cables. These connectivity cables have been in use for over many years and despite undergoing through a major shift throughout the years thanks to technological advancements, there is still a way for growth, especially in certain regions of the world.

Recently, Oceans & Cables Director Mr Aldo Monaca, held a presentation on Submarine Cables in Africa: A Network of New Developments, at HYDRO22, an event held in early December in Monaco. During this presentation, Mr Monaca outlined how the African continent where the telecommunications infrastructure is underdeveloped, represent a significant investment opportunity for the international submarine cable market that can also be a fundamental driver of socio-economic development. The presentation defined the geopolitical background, growth opportunities, economic impact, monitoring needs and hydrospatial information systems for the African continent. Africa is currently surrounded by cables already installed by the large submarine cable consortia, which connect African countries with other continents. The potential of the African digital market is huge and to achieve results, significant investments are needed in infrastructures, including submarine cables, which allow connectivity to the Internet. Currently, Africans do not have affordable, reliable, and good quality Internet access and this poor connectivity hampers economic growth, poverty reduction, human development, and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. In his presentation Mr Monaca concluded that Africa needs better connectivity infrastructures not only considering current gaps, but especially of future ones. The researchers involved in this study firstly presented at HYDRO22 in Monaco – Submarine Cables in Africa: A Network of New Developments – are Mr Sebastiano Messina, Mr Alessandro Maiolino, Mr Ennio Ammatuna, Ms Gioia Alessia Chiara Grazia Indelicato, Ms Delia Burnic and Mr Aldo Monaca himself.

In an international sphere, connectivity, increased volume, and data sensitivity sent through underwater submarine cables has become critical and need to be protected and secured within the international relations dynamics. International organisations and states need to proactively work together to ensure that this sector is run responsibly and safely.

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 energy companies around the world. For more information about Oceans & Cables, please contact us on info@oceanscables.com.

Article written by guest writer Ms Charlene Sciberras.

28.11.2022

Submarine communications cables in our oceans provide a primary means of connectivity around the globe. Historically, the first submarine communications cables were laid in the 1850’s and carried telegraphy traffic, establishing the first instant telecommunications links between continents. Generations later, these cables carried telephone traffic, and then data communications traffic, whilst modern cables use optical fibre technology which carry digital data, including telephone, Internet and private data traffic. Such submarine cables are laid on the seabed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of oceans and seas.

When talking about submarine cable systems, the market consists of various components such as the marine cables, conductors, equipment, and maintenance and repairs services, making the submarine cable systems a massive global market with many big players in the industry. This market is on the growth curve and is expected to grow further due to the rising of Internet and online subscriptions from the most recent increase of remote workers, more streaming services offering movies, TV shows, and music, and further use of smartphone devices. We are living in a digital world with a constant increase of data traffic, and this is also possible thanks to the submarine cable systems. Big data, high speed Internet, demand for higher bandwidth globally, requires strong connectivity between data centres thus raising the importance of submarine cables within the telecom sector.

However, submarine cables are not only used to transfer most of the Internet traffic helping in faster communication worldwide but are also used to transfer the power generated from offshore wind farms to power stations, for power transmission to oil rigs, and more. Therefore, many consider submarine cables a vital component of the economy thanks to this growing demand. These driving factors from the telecom and energy industries has increased research and development services for the submarine cables, and many new manufacturers, suppliers to the industry, and participation to the installation and maintenance services for the submarine cables.  

The importance of these submarine cable network in the world is huge, and here are Oceans & Cables we can totally understand and value this, making us very proud to be working in this industry and share our expertise and knowledge through our consultancy solutions and related work.

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 energy companies around the world. For more information about Oceans & Cables, please contact us on info@oceanscables.com.

Article written by guest writer Ms Charlene Sciberras.

05.10.2022

Welcome to our new blog. In this section on our website, we look forward to bringing you the latest news and information on anything related to our industry and services. Through our blog posts and news items, we will be exploring various informative topics to give you, our readers, valuable information.

As a company, Oceans & Cables was established in 2014 in Malta, however nowadays, it is synonym to expertise in the submarine cable installations, technical support for pipelay, rig positioning and surveys, and other related services. We service clients coming from various industries and markets such as the telecom, offshore energy, offshore wind construction, ocean research services, government services, marine construction and more.

Article written by Mr Aldo Monaca, Director, Ocean & Cables Limited and can be reached on a.monaca@oceanscables.com or +356 79379911 | +39 3388671519.

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 energy companies around the world.