According to new analysis, China and Russia are stepping up sabotage operations against submarine cables, while Britain is not ready to deal with the growing threat.
A report by the China Strategic Risk Institute (CSRI) analyzed 12 incidents in which state authorities investigated allegedly undersea wired destruction between January 2021 and April 2025. Of the 10 cases in which suspicious ships were identified, eight cases were directly contacted by China or Russia through flag registration or company ownership.
Related: Calls on Ireland to increase defense of submarine Internet cables
The report said the Shadow Fleet commercial vessels were involved in these events with China and Russia’s broader “Grey Zone” strategy – the space between war and peace – aimed at coercing opponents while minimizing opportunities for response.
It said that the patterns of activity (for example, involvement of Chinese ships in suspicious events in the Baltic Sea, as well as Russian ships near Taiwan – suggesting that there may be coordination between Moscow and Beijing in a submarine cable attack.
It is estimated that up to 99% of intercontinental data transmission is carried out through submarine cable systems and plays a crucial role in civilians and defense infrastructure. Without submarine cables, most economies from international banks and cloud computing to virtual communications and global logistics will cease to function.
The UK is a key hub for the European Atlantic cable infrastructure and is likely to be a common target for future disruption actions.
However, the UK government submitted a submission to the Parliament’s Joint Committee on National Security Strategy, which acknowledged its limited ability to monitor commercial maritime traffic around submarine cables. The Joint Commission is investigating the threat posed to submarine cables and the possibility of safer alternatives.
The Commission's Department of Science, Innovation and Technology Submission notes: “The UK has limited capacity to monitor maritime and white people in general [commercial] Transport traffic, as coastal radar covers only 22% of the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) across the UK.
“The vast amount of maritime traffic makes it challenging to determine the situation of every abnormal maritime activity. As a result, current functions do not fully guarantee that all vessels comply with UK laws and regulations, especially around sensitive infrastructure such as submarine cables (submarine cables).
Andrew Yeh, executive director of CSRI and author of the report, said: “In the digital age, the foundation of prosperity and security. We cannot pose an unprecedented threat to the infrastructure of the UK mainland to the gray area operations in China and Russia.
“Despite good setups to deal with traditional threats, the UK’s defence infrastructure has serious shortcomings in its strategy to prevent gray zones. The UK must strengthen its surveillance and surveillance capabilities while seeking partners like Taiwan who have extensive experience in anti-gray threats.”
Recent strategic defense reviews acknowledge that underwater cables are becoming an increasingly vulnerable maritime field.
The UK is the landing site for 60 submarine cable systems, including nine of the 15 submarine cables connecting North America to Europe.
Related: Wire Cutter: The World's Important Subsea Data Cable Target
This month, a Taiwanese court sentenced a Chinese captain to three years in prison after he was guilty of intentionally damaging the island's cable in February.
Intent to prove, rather than careless, is one of the difficulties in bringing these cases in court. In the Taiwan case, the Chinese captain said it was a negligent case.
The laws of the ocean associated with these highly complex cables carrying high-tech data are governed by the Cable Convention adopted in 1884.
The Baltic NATO countries vowed to facilitate patrol missions after meeting in January, after vowed to facilitate several telecommunications and power cables in the Baltic in recent months, experts and politicians accused Russia of “shadow fleet” of destruction.
