Britain is to step up its defence against Vladimir Putin’s “grey-zone” attacks against the West by ramping up the amount it can fine ship owners for damaging undersea cables, The i Paper has learned.
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.
But critics say existing UK laws to curb damage of cables are too weak as they date back to 140-year-old legislation, and leave the country vulnerable to a nationwide shutdown of the internet, financial system and mobile phone networks.
Individuals can face life imprisonment or 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 are considered woefully inadequate.
New penalties planned
The 1885 Submarine Telegraph Act allowed the government to fine ship owners just £100 for cable damage, which was increased to a maximum of £1,000 a few years ago.
This is regarded in Whitehall as not high enough to curb interference, and according to Lloyd’s Shipping & Trade Law, prosecutions are rare, allowing the grey-zone activity to continue with relative impunity.
In response to the increased threat, the Government is planning new legislation in the new year which will increase these fines to potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds, The i Paper understands.
While a maximum penalty has not been decided, as a review of the laws is under way, similar legislation in Australia allows fines of £500,000.
In the UK the government can take action under the 2023 National Security Act against a criminal act of sabotage, if a ship causing the damage is proved to be linked to a foreign power.
However, it is difficult to prove a direct connection to Moscow, often because the vessels are part of Russia’s “shadow fleet”, with murky ownership history, or are sailing under a different national flag.
Cable damage could be catastrophic
The risk of damage to undersea cables is potentially catastrophic. The UK’s National Risk Register for 2025 warned: “The reasonable worst-case scenario assumes that transatlantic subsea fibre-optic cables connecting the UK would be damaged over a number of hours, rendering them inoperable.
“The primary sector impacted would be communications. There would be considerable disruption to the internet, to essential services that rely upon offshore providers of data services (including financial services) and potentially to supply chain management and payment systems.”
A report by Parliament’s Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, released earlier this year, warned that urgent action needed to be taken to bolster the UK’s resilience, and that the country’s system of undersea cables was vulnerable to a co-ordinated attack that could shut down the internet, financial transactions and telecoms nationwide.
A parliamentary report warns the country’s system of undersea cables is vulnerable to a co-ordinated attackPreparing for the worst
The Government is to set up a body to co-ordinate policy on underwater cables, including the planning of repairs, and bolstering security at landing sites.
A Government spokesperson said: “The security and resilience of the UK’s subsea cable network is a national priority. We are working closely with industry partners and international allies to ensure these critical assets are protected against evolving threats.
“We’re conducting a comprehensive review of legislation relating to subsea cables, with a key focus on ensuring robust routes exist to prosecute private actors – particularly where foreign state involvement is suspected but cannot be proven.”
The Russian spy ship, the Yantar, strayed into UK waters on several occasions in the past few months and is suspected of mapping Britain’s undersea cables.
In November Defence Secretary John Healey announced that Yantar’s crew had for the first time used lasers to disrupt RAF pilots tracking its activity.Healey described the move as “deeply dangerous”.
Last weekend it also emerged that Russian submarines were being secretly deployed alongside the Yantar as part of the operation to map the undersea cables.
Government ‘needs to act more quickly’
Opposition MPs urged the Government to move quickly to counter the threat.
Conservative MP and former Army officer Ben Obese-Jecty said: “The recent presence of the RV Yantar on the edge of our territorial waters is a key indicator of the sub-threshold threat posed by adversaries like Russia.
“The Government are well aware of the danger their presence poses, and given the acts of undersea sabotage we’ve seen elsewhere in Europe, it’s critical that we have updated legislation in place to ensure we can address these threats robustly to deter foreign actors from acting with impunity.
“The sabotage provisions are a key component of our legal deterrent, and whilst it is a high bar, it indicates how real the threat now is.”
Liberal Democrat MP Edward Morello, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Joint National Security Committee, said: “It is clear that undersea cables are a vulnerability known to our adversaries. We have seen increased Russian activity in the waters around the UK, and there is evidence they have been training the Chinese in cable-cutting techniques.
“The recent report by the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy on undersea cables highlighted the need for increased monitoring and protection of the cables but also the landing points, as well as a sovereign repair capability.
“I am glad that the Government has accepted nearly all of the recommendations our report made. As well as beefing up legal deterrents to sabotage, the Government also needs to increase physical deterrents, limiting our adversaries freedom of navigation around critical national infrastructure.”
UK repair times fastest in world
Ministers are understood to believe that the previous Conservative government should have dealth with the legal loophole when it was in office.
The current Government insists that, despite gaps in legislation, the UK’s international connectivity has high levels of resilience, with multiple routes and robust contingency plans in place.
When cables break, cable repair times in the UK are some of the fastest in the world, it says. The average response time from notification to repair is just eight days in UK waters, compared to a global average of 30 days.
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The Government also has a co-ordinated strategy to deter hostile actors by combining military presence with diplomatic, economic and information efforts. This includes the UK’s membership of Nato and the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), with multinational operations such as Nordic Warden and Baltic Sentry helping to protect critical subsea infrastructure.
Earlier this month, the Defence Secretary unveiled work on the groundbreaking Atlantic Bastion programme, which aims to make Britain more secure from Russian undersea threats in the North Atlantic through a transformation of the Royal Navy and its submarine-hunting capabilities.
The Government is also planning a Defence Readiness Bill in 2026 to improve the resilience of defence infrastructure.
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