When planning and organizing the December 2009 Workshop on Submarine Cables and Law of the Sea, CIL staff undertook a significant amount of research on the legal regime governing submarine cables. Some of the materials that were gathered were made available on the CIL web site prior to the Workshop. Other materials were made available to participants at the Workshop. These materials can be found below under Section 1 entitled “Materials on Submarine Cables and Law of the Seaâ€.
CIL intends to continue its work on submarine cables and law of the sea. CIL Director Robert Beckman will serve as the principal investigator and will continue to examine the international legal regime governing submarine cables. He will be assisted by Ms Tara Davenport, who assisted Prof Beckman in organizing the CIL Workshop and drafting the Workshop Report. Tara will be working full-time with CIL as a Research Associate. She will continue to conduct research on national policies and legislation governing submarine cables as well as on the best practices followed by governments and industry with regards to submarine cables.
CIL will publish a monograph containing the Workshop Report and additional materials. CIL is also in discussions with international scholars on possible collaboration for further research on submarine cables and law of the sea in the Indian Ocean Region. If necessary, it will also organize or support follow-up workshops or conferences in Singapore or the region on submarine cables.
CIL will continue to make available on its website materials on submarine cables and law of the sea with the hope that law of the sea scholars, government officials and cable industry experts will find them useful.
1. Materials on Submarine Cables and Law of the Sea
a)Â Â Â Â Â International Conventions
- International Convention for the Protection of Submarine Cables 1884
- Relevant Provisions of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS)
- International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea 1972 (COLREGS)
- Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of against the Safety of Maritime Navigation 1988 (SUA)
b)Â Â Â Â Â Domestic Legislation
i. Australian Legislation
- Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Protection of Submarine Cables and Other Measures) 2005
- Submarine Cable (Northern Sydney Protection Zone) Declaration 2007
- Explanatory Statement to Submarine Cable (Northern Sydney Protection Zone) Declaration 2007
- Submarine Cable (Perth Protection Zone) Declaration 2007
ii. New Zealand Legislation
- Submarine Cables and Pipelines Protection Act 1996
- Submarine Cables and Pipelines Protection Order 1992
c)Â Â Â Â Â Â International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) Documents
- ICPC Recommendation No. 6 on Recommended Actions for Effective Cable Protection (Post Installation)
Protection (Post Installation) - ICPC Booklet on Fishing and Submarine Cables
d)Â Â Â Â Â IMO Documents
- IMO Circular No. 282 on the Prohibition of Anchoring in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore dated 27 November 2009
- Information on Ship Routeing from the IMO Website
- Amendments to the General Provisions on Ships Routeing (resolution A.572 (14))
e)Â Â Â Â Â Circulars issued by Port Authorities and P and I Clubs on indiscriminate anchoring in the Singapore Strait
- MPA Port Marine Circular No. 5 of 2001 on Prohibition of Anchoring in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, 1 February 2001
- MPA Notice to Mariners No. 57 of 2009 on Damage to Submarine Cables caused by ships anchoring at non-designated anchorage areas dated 1 June 2009
- Malaysia Marine Department Notice to Mariners 73/2008 on Non Anchorage Areas dated 22 October 2008
- Circular issued by the Standard Club dated 12 September 2009
- Loss Prevention Circular No. 11-09 issued by Gard Club, August 2009
f)Â Â Â Â Â Â Miscellaneous Documents
- CIMA/COLP Workshop Report on Submarine Cables, Beijing, 7 – 8 May 2009
- 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea
- Maps of Overlapping Boundary Claims in the South China Sea
- Map of the Singapore Strait showing the location of Submarine Cables
- Cable Fault Statistics in the Singapore Strait for 2008 and 2009
g)Â Â Â Â Â Background Power Point Presentations
- Overview of Submarine Cable Route Planning & Cable Route Survey Activities by Graham Evans, Director, EGS Survey Group
- Causes of Cable Faults and Repairs in Regional Seas by Stephen Drew, Executive Committee Member, ICPC
- Undersea Cables in the East China Sea by Robert Wargo, Vice Chairman, ICPC
- UNCLOS and Submarine Cables by Douglas Burnett, Legal Advisor, ICPC
2. CIL Workshop on Submarine Cables and Law of the Sea, 14 – 15 December 2009, Singapore
For the Workshop Report, PowerPoint presentations, and photo gallery, click here.
3. Latest Materials
a)Â Â Â Â Â 16 January 2010: Presentation given by Professor Robert Beckman at the Indian Society of International Law (ISIL) Seventh International Conference 2010
- “Submarine Cables: A Critically Important but Neglected Area of the Law of the Seaâ€, paper presented by Professor Robert Beckman at the ISIL Seventh International Conference 2010
- “Submarine Cables: A Critically Important but Neglected Area of the Law of the Seaâ€, PowerPoint Presentation presented by Professor Robert Beckman at the ISIL Seventh International Conference 2010