UK plan to punish Putin’s shadow ships for undersea attacks

Ship owners and operators that deliberately damage undersea internet cables around Britain face jail under new laws designed to crack down on Russia’s “grey zone” activity, The i Paper can reveal.

Existing UK legislation for deliberately interfering with communications cables carries fines of just £1,000, unless it can be proven that it was sabotage on behalf of a foreign power – which is harder to establish.

Ministers warn that these laws are decades out of date and that we live in a “very different world” where critical national infrastructure is coming under daily attack from hostile states, leaving the country vulnerable to a nationwide shutdown of the internet, financial system and mobile phone networks.

The new legislation is designed to act as a major deterrent, with higher fines that could run into the hundreds of thousands of pounds and prison sentences for those who damage subsea infrastructure critical to UK internet access.

Technology minister Baroness Lloyd of Effra will outline the plans in a speech to the Royal United Services Institute on Friday.

The i Paper first revealed in December that ministers were poised to toughen laws against ship owners for damaging cables in response to increased targeting by Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”.

Interference with telecommunications and internet fibre-optic cables has increased over the past two years, with much of the activity blamed on Russia as it wages a hybrid war against Nato countries.

Individuals can already face life imprisonment, a fine, or both for the offence of sabotage on behalf of a foreign power under the 2023 National Security Act.

However, if it cannot be established that the act is for a foreign power, other penalties for damaging cables, under the 140-year-old Submarine Telegraph Act, are just £1,000, which does not act as a deterrent.

The new proposals are expected to include tougher fines and prison sentences for vessel owners and operators who intentionally or recklessly damage cables. A maximum penalty under the proposed new laws has not been decided but similar legislation in Australia allows fines of £500,000.

There will also be increased security obligations on cable owners and operators to ensure they take the necessary steps to prevent, detect and respond to security compromises quickly and consistently.

New emergency powers to direct businesses to protect this infrastructure will also be included in the white paper, which will be published later this year.

‘Tougher consequences’

In her speech, Lloyd will say: “There is a need for robust criminal penalties – to deter people from damaging cables.

“For sabotage that can be clearly linked to a foreign power, we already have such penalties in place – including life imprisonment in the most serious cases. But activity in this domain does not always present itself so clearly.

“It often operates below the threshold of clear attribution – ambiguous in intent, hard to prove, and difficult to prosecute decisively. And it is precisely in that ‘grey zone’ where we need to focus our efforts.

“Because right now, the system is not keeping up with the threat.”

She will vow to change that with “tougher consequences for those who act recklessly or deliberately”.

The 64 undersea cables the UK relies upon are vital to the economy, enabling £1.4trn daily transactions in the country.

Without them, the UK’s phone calls, email and social media, critical services vital for supply chains, emergency services, the military and key British industries such as finance, would be cut off.
Protection of the cables is one of the highest national security priorities.

According to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, it can take up to eight days for a repair vessel to get to the scene of a broken cable.

The overwhelming majority of faults or breaks are not caused by malicious activity but by fishing or vessels dragging their anchors.

But the Government said suspicious activity near subsea cables in and around UK waters is being “increasingly observed”.

New surveillance tech tracking undersea attacks

In April, the British Armed Forces exposed a covert Russian submarine operation carrying out activity over critical undersea infrastructure in and around UK waters.

Last year, the Russian spy ship, Yantar, strayed into UK waters on several occasions and is suspected of mapping Britain’s undersea cables.

Direct connections to Russia or other hostile states are difficult to prove when undersea cables are targeted, often because they are carried out by shadow fleet vessels with murky ownership history or are sailing under a different national flag.

The new legislation would not require proof that an owner or operator was acting on behalf of a foreign state but it would impose penalties or jail terms directly.

However, it could still be complex to track down ship owners or operators, particularly if they are based in another country. Russia’s “shadow fleet” tankers are known to cycle through different names and registered owners.

The Government has been increasing the tracking of ship activity and building a much clearer picture of what is happening both at the surface and on the seabed, using new surveillance technology carried out by the armed forces and civilian law enforcement.

Besides intercepting vessels found to have tampered with cables, there are other routes for investigation and prosecution, including once vessels enter port and through international cooperation.