FEATURE
THE CHALLENGES OF PROTECTING CRITICAL SUBSEA INFRASTRUCTURE BY DALLAS MEGGITT, STEVE MCLAUGHLIN AND JEFFREY WILSON INTRODUCTION
the arteries. Undersea cables are vital infrastructure to the global Recent events have brought into dramatic focus the vulner- economy and the world’s communication systems. Subsurface pipelines carry essential fuels from producers to consumers. ability of critical subsea infrastructure and the need to protect it. Subsea infrastructure as used in this paper includes undersea Disruption of either of these can cause serious economic consequences, potential environmental damage, and serious political cables (both power and communications), pipelines and fixed confrontations. Until relatively recently, the fact that underwastructures (e.g., oil and gas platforms. Cables and pipelines ter systems were on the seafloor or are linear systems that can extend buried in it has been the primary for tens to hundreds of kilometers. factor contributing to their perceived Fixed seafloor structures include security. The depth guaranteed that it systems that are fully submerged would be very difficult to identify the or are bottom-founded platforms. exact location of the cable or pipeline. Much, if not most, subsea infraIn some instances, the activities of structure is owned by commercial the surface vessels looking for “someentities; however, nations see this thing” in sensitive waters could be as critical infrastructure and have a strong interest in protecting them. Nordstream 1 Damage and Gas Leak (Image from SVT.se) monitored (e.g., Russian vessels near undersea cables off the east coast The destruction of the Nordstream of the US). It was clear as to when 1 and 2 pipeline systems by deliberthe underwater assets might be threatened. The development ate sabotage, and the severing of Norwegian communications of advanced undersea vehicles has eliminated this potential adand defense cables are perhaps the most recent demonstration vantage. This paper discusses potential threats to critical subsea of the vulnerability of critical subsea infrastructure. infrastructure and potential means to mitigate those threats. Cables are the nerves of modern societies, and pipelines are JANUARY 2023 | ISSUE 128
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