THE IMPACT OF USING MODERN FIBER-OPTIC CABLES ON THE EXPLOITATION OF THE SEABED (A STUDY WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF THE SEA)

Abstract

The bed of the sea is described as one of the most significant parts of the seas, the exploitation whereof in self-interest by all states shall be available by any measures due to its economic importance and wealth elements. This has led states to seek ways of making the most of the seabed in modern technological terms. In 1968 Malta had proposed that the underground seabed beyond any national jurisdiction be declared the common heritage of mankind, in which rights would not be exercised unless in accordance with decisions taken by the United Nations General Assembly, so as to maintaian its unique character and protect the interest of developing countries. The laying of the latest communication cables on the ocean bed belongs to that group of activities through which men invade and plunder the seabed. The submarine cables are the fundamental pivotal element for global communication infrastructure and carry around 95% of international intercontinental data with extremely high efficiency. Such cables actually have a very old history - the first trans-ocean (submarine) cable was laid in 1850 between France and Britain. Given the technological progress occurring globally, particularly in relation to communications, a legal framework was needed to regulate these cables due to inadequacies of the 1884 Convention for the Protection of Submarine Telegraph Cables, which had been unable to gain universal acceptance and applied only among its state parties. This was followed by the adoption of UNCLOS (1982), which constitutes a dominant international legal framework applicable to submarine cable laying and that sets out the rights and duties of coastal States as well as those landlocked in relation to this activity. Despite the technological progress (espacially development of modern fiber optic cables) new aspects need to be consider more rigorously with respect to ecologic damage and diversities as well disruption on natural habitats of organism given, as well as the desire of major industrialized states to control these cables as tools of surveillance and the potential interception of communications transmitted through them. These developments have revealed the insufficiency of the Law of the Sea Convention in regulating the laying of modern submarine cables, especially those introduced in 1988 after the adoption of the 1982 Convention, due to its failure to keep pace with contemporary technological progress, including the installation of modern fiber-optic communication cables on the seabed, particularly in the international area beyond national jurisdiction.