Date of Award
2026
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Marine Affairs
Department
Marine Affairs
First Advisor
Elizabeth Mendenhall
Abstract
Submarine telecommunications cables carry 99% of the world's internet, data, and voice communications, supporting vital societal functions. Recently, these cables have been recognized as critical infrastructure that needs to be secured. It is essential to explore how other actors engage with, reproduce, and promote narratives of securitization, since threat construction is a social process, often led by governments, and picked up or amplified by other actors. Despite incidents of potential sabotage in the Baltic Sea and around Taiwan, it is not inevitable that cable damage would be treated as a national security threat; most damage is mundane, the result of accidents involving anchors and fishing gear. The prevailing narrative, therefore, contrasts with the issues the industry actually faces in maintaining cable infrastructure.
Current research mainly focuses on physical protection of critical infrastructure, with limited insights into industry perspectives and responses to securitization. This study uses semi-structured interviews to explore how recent sabotage incidents and geopolitical tensions influence industry views on cable security and their daily operations. Results indicate that industry stakeholders primarily see security as the ability to quickly repair cables, highlighting a gap between security discourse and operational realities. Industry members regard security as ensuring operational capacity rather than physical security or deterrence. Traditional security concepts like threat and vulnerability don't align with their concerns. Instead, the threats they focused on were delays in repair, such as permit issues and crew safety, with security being the ability to restore services quickly. This study helps us understand tensions or misalignments in the mobilization of response to cable sabotage incidents.
Recommended Citation
Turley, Nell, "GUARDING THE GARDEN HOSES: INDUSTRY RESPONSES TO THE SECURITIZATION OF SUBMARINE CABLES" (2026). Open Access Master's Theses. Paper 2701.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/theses/2701