Former Defence Forces chief urges Ireland to hire repair ship to protect subsea cables

Vice Admiral Mark Mellett, DSM disembarking the L.É. Samuel Beckett arriving at John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin. Picture: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

Ireland needs to contract a commercial repair vessel to restore damage to subsea data cables, along with an alert system to track suspicious vessels, the former head of the Defence Forces has said.

Mark Mellett said Ireland also needs a cross-department coordination unit to improve collaboration between the commercial sector, which owns the cables, and Irish security services.

The former Naval Service chief was commenting on the recent publication of a report by the UK Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.

He said the 80-page report, Subsea Telecommunications Cables: Resilience and Crisis Preparedness, was “as applicable to Ireland” as it was to the UK.

The report said the UK internet system “relies almost entirely on subsea telecommunications cables” to connect to the outside world, carrying the data that powers the economy, communications, and critical services.

It said “severe disruption risks are low, and hype is unhelpful,” but warned that the “deteriorating security environment” increased the need for resilience.

The report noted that while individual operators have “few incentives” to fund costly resilience measures for a crisis that may never occur, the government “has a duty” to prepare for low-likelihood but high-impact events.

It identified Russia as the “primary threat” and detailed several “enforcement actions” taken by British services, including in the Irish Sea last November.

The Russian research ship Yantar, “allegedly a spy ship,” was detected loitering over critical subsea infrastructure, raising concerns in both Britain and Ireland about its prolonged presence above gas pipelines from Scotland to Ireland. 

Almost 75% of Ireland’s natural gas passes through these two pipes.

The report said: “UK deployed maritime patrol aircraft, two warships and the RFA Proteus to shadow Yantar. 

“A Royal Navy submarine was also authorised to surface near the Yantar. The UK worked jointly with the Irish military, which also sent a vessel to shadow the Yantar.” 

Mr Mellett said the report’s recommendations also applied to Ireland, though they should be adapted for the Irish context. They include:

• An Irish-flagged commercial repair vessel on contract to ensure faster restoration of subsea cables;
• A Defence Forces reservist programme to develop and maintain cable repair skills for crisis response;
• Legislative reform to introduce stronger penalties for deliberate damage, with Ireland and the UK leading EU and UN initiatives to test new legal approaches (such as adapting anti-piracy provisions), and an expanded port state control regime;
• Deployment of monitoring and alert systems to provide early warning and support rapid interception of suspicious vessels;
• Impact assessments and contingency planning across all key economic and security sectors;
• Security upgrades at infrastructure sites, landing points, and systems, including emergency repair solutions to restore basic services quickly;
• A national strategy to diversify cable routes at sea and on land, reducing vulnerabilities at choke points;
• Stronger governance through a cross-departmental coordination unit to balance commercial and national security priorities.

Mr Mellett said these recommendations should be included in Ireland’s upcoming Maritime Security Strategy, the first of its kind.

“An additional provision should be that the contracted party be part of a PPP arrangement with the DOD and Naval Service enabling information sharing and tech transfer,” he said.

“The vessel should also provide services/capacity in conjunction with HEIs [higher education institutions] and SMEs [small to medium enterprises] for testing new autonomous and other technologies aimed at enhancing the protection of critical underwater maritime infrastructure.”