Situational Awareness for Proactive Rerouting: Enhancing Resilience in Submarine Communication Cables
Pub. online: 3 March 2026
Type: Research Article
Open Access
Open Access
Received
8 August 2025
8 August 2025
Accepted
28 October 2025
28 October 2025
Published
3 March 2026
3 March 2026
Abstract
Suspected sabotage to submarine communication cables (SCCs) across the world has raised questions about the resilience of these systems. Data communication networks typically use a network approach, which spreads the networks’ capacity across diverse routes to provide redundancy. This study takes a risk mitigation and resilience perspective by investigating the information needed to support proactive rerouting decision-making. This study reveals that appropriate situational awareness is dependent on specific, real-time information about hazards and threats to the cable in question. For an operator of an SCC, such a contribution is not possible without being interpreted as an integral stakeholder in defence.
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