Can anyone lay submarine cables in the high seas?

While UNCLOS affords the freedom to lay cables and pipelines to “all States,” in reality, private companies or consortiums of private companies from different jurisdictions own and operate cables, although they engage vessels from various flag states to lay and repair cables.

Who owns most of the undersea cables?

The approximately 400 publicly disclosed undersea cable systems (both existing and planned) are mostly owned and operated by telecommunications companies. More recently, however, large Internet companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Facebook have entered this area as well.

What companies own submarine cables?

In fact, Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft owned or leased more than half of the undersea bandwidth in 2018. Currently, Google alone owns six active submarine cables, and plans to have eight more ready within two years.

Are submarine cables damaging the environment?

Despite the small physical size of optical cable activities, such as surveying of cable routes, laying, protecting and repairing submarine cables may cause pollution or harmful changes to the marine environment.

Are high seas open to all states?

The high seas are open to all States, whether coastal or land-locked. Freedom of the high seas is exercised under the conditions laid down by this Convention and by other rules of international law.

What is hot pursuit under Unclos?

Abstract. The doctrine of maritime hot pursuit recognizes the right of a coastal state to pursue onto the high seas a foreign vessel that violated its laws while within its waters.

Is Hot Pursuit legal?

Under United States law, hot pursuit is an exigent circumstance that allows police to arrest a criminal suspect on private property without a warrant, which would generally be a violation of the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches, seizures, and arrests.

How are submarine communications cables installed?

The submarine communications cables are generally buried under the sea floor. This is especially true on the shallow region around continental shelves where they might be damaged during fishing, or by ship anchors. There are multiple methods for installing the cables in this manner, but the most popular one is using a cable plough.

What are thenoaa regulations for laying a submarine cable?

NOAA regulations to guide an agency through the process are found at 50 CFR Part 402 . A NOAA permit will be required where the laying of a submarine cable may result in incidental take of marine mammals.

What are the main threats to a submarine transmission cable?

The main threats to a submarine transmission cable are external impacts due to predominantly anchors and fishing gears. In order to minimize the risk of a cable tear due to a vessels’ anchoring, a “Cable protection zone” or CPZ is established along the cable’s path. These zones are legally defined and marked on nautical charts.

When is a special use permit required for submarine cables?

A special use permit is required, among other things, for the continued presence of commercial submarine cables on or within the submerged lands of any national marine sanctuary. 78 Fed. Reg. 25957 (May 3, 2013).