FEATURE
IS IT ADVISABLE TO MAKE SUBMARINE CABLE DAMAGE CLAIMS? ANDRÉS FÍGOLI
Y
es, indeed. This straightforward question involves reflection on whether a submarine cable owner has any scope for action when its network is disrupted due to the activity of a fishing vessel or merchant ship that has negligently damaged one of its submarine cables. One option is to remain passive and let the author of the damage be a potential recidivist in the future. Another option is to investigate the causes of the cable fault, identify the author and immediately alert local authorities so that they can proceed with the arrest of the suspected ship. The second option is primarily aimed at recovering the costs incurred in repairing the damaged cable and, in the long term, it also reduces the risk that maritime operators in the affected area face similar events in the future.
COMPENSATORY DAMAGES
With the increase in fuel costs for cable maintenance ships, repair costs are higher. Other factors also play a role, such as the availability of these vessels and even the hurricane season. In addition, sometimes cable owners must
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wait months until they can afford to repair a shunt fault at a reasonable competitive price. Therefore, to justify a claim for damage compensation, which may amount to $1-3 million, these types of damages should be properly documented to the insurance companies of the shipping industry (P&Is) and eventually to a local court. In some cases, even the restoration costs exceeded the actual repair costs. Furthermore, the argumentation should have an excellent understanding of cable repair operations and the importance of the submarine cable in the landing countries, so as to persuade naval authorities to collaborate with the investigations and find the authors of the cable fault. A common mistake is framing these outages as private business incidents of telecommunications companies when they clearly affect or potentially disrupt the digital sovereignty of a country or an entire region, and also other stakeholders such as the financial sector1. Of course, this option has complexities, hazards and un1 See Burnett, Captain Douglas R., U.S. Navy (Retired): “Repairing Submarine Cables Is a Wartime Necessity” US Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 148/10/1,436.