Finnish coast guard ship Uisko and tugboat Ukko are seen near Oil tanker Eagle S outside the Porkkalanniemi, Kirkkonummi, on the Gulf of Finland on December 28, 2024,
By Gian Volpicelli and Andrea Palasciano
Feb 15, 2025 (Bloomberg) –The European Union is mulling a public-private initiative worth “hundreds of millions” of euros to buy ships that can promptly repair subsea cables in case of damage or sabotage, the bloc’s tech chief said.
“We are discussing now with member states what would be the amount that is needed,” Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s executive vice president for technological sovereignty, security and democracy, said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. “When it comes to security we see that there’s an urgent need for action.”
Read More: Baltic Undersea Cable Between Latvia And Sweden Damaged By External Force
In recent months, there have been a string of incidents in the Baltic Sea in which telecommunication and power cables strung across the sea floor between countries were damaged by passing ships. While it is unclear whether these disruptions were accidental or intentional, they have spurred the EU to focus on its infrastructure’s resilience, including by ramping up the continent’s cable-repairing fleet.
Subsea cables carry Internet and power connections across countries and continents and their loss can cause disruptions to digital services, including web access and payments, and force telecommunications providers to reroute traffic. More than 95% of global data traffic goes through subsea cables, according to the International Cable Protection Committee.
The cables themselves are about as thick as a garden hose and can be exposed to damage — from natural events like earthquakes, accidents like fishing trawlers dragging equipment across the sea bed and from deliberate sabotage. The industry relies on a small, aging fleet of repair ships with fewer than 100 to cover the globe. French phone company Orange SA launched a new vessel in 2023 for €50 million ($52.5 million).
The ship-procurement drive would be “very much a public-private partnership,” with the EU, individual countries and telecommunications companies all likely to chip in. “Everybody has to participate,” Virkkunen said.
The necessary funds from the EU side will be reallocated from the existing budget, given that the next budget won’t be implemented until 2028, she said. The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, is planning to release more details in its action plan in the next few weeks.
A delegation from the commission is set to travel next week to Virkkunen’s home country of Finland, one of the member states most affected by cable damages, as the EU prepares to release three papers dealing with defense, internal security and preparedness strategies.
© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.
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