Securing UK Subsea Infrastructure: Information-sharing in times of crisis

Project overview

Subsea pipelines and cables facilitate the flow of data, electricity, oil and gas globally. Maintaining these flows is essential to the functioning of any state. The UK government recognises the significance of this critical maritime infrastructure, evident in recent defence reviews.

This national focus has been reinforced by security incidents in the Baltic Sea where the NordStream 2 pipeline was attacked in 2022 and different cables have suffered suspicious damage. This has reinforced the vulnerability of subsea infrastructure, especially during an era of hybrid warfare, while illustrating the need for greater resilience in the face of disruptions.

No government can manage the security of subsea infrastructure without close coordination and cooperation with the private sector. Cooperation between the UK and neighbouring countries is also important given multiple international subsea connections.

As a result, securing subsea infrastructure involves multiple actors, often with different interests and/or resources, working together. This situation can complicate information sharing, particularly during and in the immediate aftermath of a security incident, as urgency can degrade usually ad-hoc communication pathways. This can undermine responses, post-incident stabilisation, and efforts at lesson learning.

This project explores the importance of, and barriers to, multi-actor crisis information sharing in UK subsea infrastructure security, developing a prototype crisis information sharing framework that captures pathways and mechanisms that can improve resilience in times of significant stress. This demands a human centred systems based approach given the need to understand the role and interests of multiple stakeholders in subsea infrastructure security, whilst acknowledging their part of a larger supply chain system.

Project objectives

This project will establish the key factors that facilitate effective sharing of information during a crisis between the different actors responsible for the operation and security of the United Kingdom’s subsea infrastructure.

This project is divided into three phases.

Phase 1 addresses the question: ‘What are the main drivers and barriers to multi-actor information exchange during crisis situations?’ Key trends in crisis management literature are examined with a focus on information sharing.

Phase 2 shifts focus to the maritime context, answering the question: ‘What are the distinctive features of the maritime environment that shape multi-actor information exchange during crisis situations?’ We highlight how the complex maritime space, with its distinctive operational environment and legal framework, interacts with information exchange activity, using responses to recent crises in the Baltic Sea as a case study.

Phase 3 asks: ‘What are the key components of a UK information sharing framework to enhance multi-actor cooperation during subsea infrastructure security crises?’ Insights from phases 1 and 2 are combined with the specifics of the UK context to develop a prototype crisis information sharing framework.

The project uses multiple methods. A review of crisis management literature is combined with an analysis of maritime security governance, and visits to Estonia and Finland to analyse Baltic Sea security incident responses to build a conceptual and environmental understanding to underpin the framework. The UK subsea infrastructure context is examined, mapping the actor network and interviewing a selection of public and private sector actors to gain insights on existing information sharing processes, challenges and opportunities. Recognising multiple subsea connections between the UK and Republic of Ireland, a visit to Dublin will help improve understanding of the international dimension to information-sharing. Finally, a one day IdeasLab will bring some of those involved in the project to provide feedback on the framework before it is published.

Impact

There is growing acceptance across European Governments that subsea infrastructure has been neglected in security and governance discourse, particularly in the event of a large-scale disruption. Recent high-profile events have magnified the vulnerability of this infrastructure to malicious interference but also the lack of investment in research that aims to understanding how multiple actors cooperate within this space. This project fills an important gap in this respect.

The project combines a focus on crisis governance with an exploration of how organisations and the individuals working within them work through security incidents. It draws conceptual insights from multiple disciplines including management, communication and maritime security studies and contextualises analysis by examining recent subsea infrastructure security incidents. The project will improve the effectiveness of communications at times of greatest stress, enhancing the resilience of the multi-actor network interested in the security of subsea infrastructure and its ability to ensure the infrastructure effectively bounces back from, and adapts to, shocks.

Beyond the project’s end, the prototype framework will influence crisis management responses and cooperation in the UK at both a policy and operational level in the context of subsea infrastructure. Engaging end users in its design will aid take-up. This will build resilience in the technical and human dimensions of the system that plays an essential role in energy and communications provision. This has added benefits for environmental sustainability, strategic cooperation and UK relations with neighbouring countries.

Outputs

• Journal Article 1: Crisis management information sharing in a maritime context
• Journal Article 2: UK subsea infrastructure crisis information sharing
• Policy Report: Introducing a novel prototype framework
• Podcast pilot episode and animated explainer video on subsea infrastructure security
• Interim and final reports