The Internet's undersea backbone faces growing sabotage risk

According to Elisabeth Braw's book Undersea War, subsea cables and pipelines are increasingly targeted by sabotage amid gray-zone warfare and open conflicts. Between 150 and 200 cables are damaged each year, about 60% due to fishing and shipping errors, but deliberate incidents are rising, including the Eagle S tanker case in the Baltic.

• 150–200 subsea cables are damaged each year and usually repaired quickly
• About 60% of damage comes from fishing and shipping errors, the rest from nature and sabotage
• The Eagle S tanker dragged its anchor 90 km in 2024, cutting four cables and Estlink 2
• The captain of the Hong Tai was sentenced to three years in Taiwan for severing a cable