• The European Subsea Cables Association is an organisation of submarine cable owners, operators and suppliers and is primarily aimed at promoting marine safety and protecting cable installations in European and surrounding waters.
  • The European Subsea Cables Association is an organisation of submarine cable owners, operators and suppliers and is primarily aimed at promoting marine safety and protecting cable installations in European and surrounding waters.
  • The European Subsea Cables Association is an organisation of submarine cable owners, operators and suppliers and is primarily aimed at promoting marine safety and protecting cable installations in European and surrounding waters.
  • The European Subsea Cables Association is an organisation of submarine cable owners, operators and suppliers and is primarily aimed at promoting marine safety and protecting cable installations in European and surrounding waters.
  • The European Subsea Cables Association is an organisation of submarine cable owners, operators and suppliers and is primarily aimed at promoting marine safety and protecting cable installations in European and surrounding waters.
  • The European Subsea Cables Association is an organisation of submarine cable owners, operators and suppliers and is primarily aimed at promoting marine safety and protecting cable installations in European and surrounding waters.
  • The European Subsea Cables Association is an organisation of submarine cable owners, operators and suppliers and is primarily aimed at promoting marine safety and protecting cable installations in European and surrounding waters.
  • The European Subsea Cables Association is an organisation of submarine cable owners, operators and suppliers and is primarily aimed at promoting marine safety and protecting cable installations in European and surrounding waters.
  • The European Subsea Cables Association is an organisation of submarine cable owners, operators and suppliers and is primarily aimed at promoting marine safety and protecting cable installations in European and surrounding waters.
  • The European Subsea Cables Association is an organisation of submarine cable owners, operators and suppliers and is primarily aimed at promoting marine safety and protecting cable installations in European and surrounding waters.

The European Subsea Cables Association is a forum of national and international companies which own, operate or service submarine cables in European and surrounding waters.



The principal goal of the European Subsea Cables Association is the promotion of marine safety and the safeguarding of submarine cables from man-made and natural hazards, including:

Serving as a vehicle for the exchange of technical and legal information pertaining to submarine systems without compromising the commercial and market aims of individual companies.

Liaising with all relevant parties affected by the installation and operation of submarine cables in European and surrounding waters.

Funding of projects which are agreed to be beneficial for the protection of submarine cable systems.

Participation in relevant industry exhibitions, meetings and technical conferences.

Facilitating the design and production of promotional materials.

When appropriate, appointing one or more of its members to represent European Subsea Cables Association interests at forums.

Baltic Sea Cable Faults
Thursday, 21 November 2024

Two subsea cables located in the Baltic Sea have recently reported faults. BCS East-West cable reportedly experienced a fault at 08:00 on Sunday 17th November and the C-Lion cable reportedly experienced a fault at 02:00 on Monday 18th November (times UTC).

There has been speculation and opinion shared on social media and from news outlets as to the causes of these two subsea cable faults. Many commentators have pointed towards deliberate action. However, at this stage there is no evidence to make any conclusive statement.

Particularly since the Nord Stream Pipeline was damaged in 2022, the security of critical undersea infrastructure has been a central topic of discussion, and action, for both industry and government.

For these and future incidents it is prudent to consider the following:

  • The primary causes of cable damage in Northern European waters are commercial fishing or ship anchors, with a smaller proportion of faults caused by natural hazards (seafloor currents, storms, submarine landslides, sediment flows etc).
  • Subsea cables are protected as much as possible through burial beneath the seabed, armouring, and careful route design to avoid predicted hazards, but it is not always possible to avoid damage and cable repairs are not uncommon.
  • The cause of a fault can rarely be attributed instantly as a cable repair ship will take several days to attend the location of the damage. Physical inspection of the cable & the seabed is typically required to give a good indication of the cause.
  • When a cable experiences a fault, engineers will perform tests on the cable that will give them a distance along the cable to the fault, and with their records they will be able to calculate geographical fault position.
  • Investigations can be undertaken using tools such as vessel tracking AIS (Automatic Identification System), to see if there were any vessels at the fault location at the time it was damaged. This does not necessarily indicate whether the cause was accidental or intentional.
  • Subsea cable damage is not rare. On average, a subsea cable is damaged somewhere in the world every three days, with estimates of around 150-200 cable faults occurring each year.
  • Damaging just one, or even two, cables will rarely cause significant disruption of service and customers in the area affected are unlikely to notice any impact. Cable operators build diversity & redundancy in their networks specifically to mitigate for these sorts of occurrences.

Speculation on the cause of fault at a very early stage can lead to misinformation being shared. Most cable faults are not reported in the media, however, when they are reported before the facts are available, such speculation often leads to unhelpful and premature conclusions being drawn about the cause of cable damage.

The image is an example of cable damage and isn’t related to these specific incidents. Please don’t use without permission

*The image is an example of cable damage and isn’t related to these specific incidents. Please don’t use without permission


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Become an ESCA Member
If you are a marine cable owner, operator, consultant or supplier and are interested in joining the European Subsea Cable Association, please contact the ESCA Secretary or download the Membership Application Form


Submarine cables (telecommunications and power) are critical to the UK and Europe's future digital economy and energy needs. To many people submarine cable infrastructure is unseen and little thought about. When articles about submarine cables are written they tend to contain spurious information about shark bites or being tapped by the worlds clandestine security agencies. Some people still think most international communications are carried by satellite!

European Subsea Cables Association have therefore produced two articles, one on telecommunication cables and one on power cables. The articles are non-technical in nature and are intending to be an informative and easy read.

Articles can be viewed online and are also available to download and can be freely distributed.

Ever since the first international submarine cable, a copper-based telegraph cable, was laid across the Channel between the United Kingdom and France in 1850, the submarine telecommunications industry has been connecting countries and continents.

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Submarine Telecommunications Cables

The first submarine cable to carry electricity was laid across the Isar River in Bavaria during 1811. Submarine power cables have evolved significantly since then, through developments in technology and design, ever increasing in capacity and length.

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Submarine Power Cables

The European Subsea Cables Association is a forum of national and international companies which own, operate or service submarine cables in the UK and surrounding waters.

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See also; Application Form, Membership Fees, Organogram, Executive Committee and Sub-Groups, Application Form, Meet the ESCA team, Liaison Officer and Fishing Advisor

Commercial fishing is the most dangerous occupation in Europe. In the UK for example, typically some 20 to 25 fishermen are killed in fishing accidents each year, which is many times greater than in other industries.

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Fouling a submarine cable can be extremely hazardous to fishing vessels. Damage to submarine cables is expensive to repair and can cause disruption to power distribution and international telecommunications.

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Sites of interest; Organisations, Authorities, Cable Protection & Awareness, Forums, Legal and Offshore links.

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Contact details, including emails and postal address, for European Subsea Cables Association.

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A list of European Subsea Cables Association members, including Telecommunications, Power, Renewable Energy and Consulatant companies and organisations.

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Download / request Documents.

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Download / request Guidelines.

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Download / request Policies.

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