Abstract
Underwater communication cables transport large amounts of sensitive information between countries. This fact converts these cables into a critical infrastructure that must be protected. Monitoring the underwater cable environment is rare and any intervention is usually driven by cable faults. In the last few years, several reports raised issues about possible future malicious attacks on such cables. The main objective of this operational research and analysis (ORA) paper is to present an overview of different commercial and already available marine sensor technologies (acoustic, optic, magnetic and oceanographic) that could be used for autonomous monitoring of the underwater cable environment. These sensors could be mounted on different autonomous platforms, such as unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) or autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). This paper analyses a multi-threat sabotage scenario where surveying a transatlantic cable of 13,000 km, (reaching water depths up to 4000 m) is necessary. The potential underwater threats identified for such a scenario are: divers, anchors, fishing trawls, submarines, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and AUVs. The paper discusses the capabilities of the identified sensors to detect such identified threats for the scenario under study. It also presents ideas on the construction of periodic and permanent surveillance networks. Research study and results are focused on providing useful information to decision-makers in charge of designing surveillance capabilities to secure underwater communication cables.
Highlights
Underwater Communication Cables, a Critical Infrastructure to ProtectUnderwater communication cables are the dominant way of transporting information
Based on the identified risks and the need to survey the underwater cable areas to protect them, this paper focuses on providing the results of an investigation done regarding the different commercial, already available, sensors and platforms that could potentially be used for monitoring/surveying the underwater environment of a cable route at regular intervals
The main contribution of the operational research and analysis (ORA) study presented in this paper focuses on the analysis of several hundreds of commercial sensors and platforms, including the identification and reporting of the most suitable ones
Summary
Underwater communication cables are the dominant way of transporting information. They account for 97% of the world’s data traffic, while satellites account for less than 3% [1]. Underwater communication cables are of strategic importance to global social welfare. This make them a critical infrastructure that should be protected by all means. 378 submarine cables in service around the world, making a total of about 1.2 million of kilometers of cable [2]. 50 new projects have been proposed (to date) for the three years (2019–2021), representing a total investment of 7.2 billion dollars. Most underwater cables are designed with a significant buffer between total
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