UK proposes up to 14 years in prison for sabotage of undersea cables and pipelines

The UK government has proposed prison sentences of up to 14 years and unlimited fines for people who deliberately damage undersea cables and pipelines, citing what it calls suspicious Russian activity around critical infrastructure in British waters. The plans were set out in a White Paper published on 22 October 2026 by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The paper opens a 12-week public consultation. It is a set of proposals for legislation, not a law that is already in force.

What the White Paper proposes

According to the government’s announcement, the proposals cover four areas. They would modernise the criminal law on harmful conduct against undersea telecoms and energy infrastructure through new offences, stronger penalties and new enforcement measures. They would introduce statutory security and resilience duties for operators of subsea telecoms cables. They would create a national security direction power, allowing the Secretary of State to direct cable operators and repair capabilities where that is necessary and proportionate. And they would bring in a regulatory regime for sensing technologies, such as fibre optic sensing, installed on subsea cables.

The government says the sensing technology can detect activity at sea but could pose national security risks if sensitive data fell into the wrong hands. The proposed penalties would apply to anyone who intentionally, recklessly or negligently damages the infrastructure, and the government singles out ship owners in particular.

Why London says the law must change

The government says fibre-optic cables carry around 99% of the UK’s international data, and that undersea pipelines provide 74% of the country’s gas supply. Undersea electricity cables bring power from Europe and from the growing offshore wind sector. Some of the laws that protect these links, ministers say, are more than a century old; the announcement describes the legislation to be updated as 140 years old.

Telecoms Minister Ian Murray said the threats had “changed dramatically” because of suspicious Russian activity around critical undersea infrastructure. Security Minister Dan Jarvis said those who deliberately or recklessly damage undersea infrastructure would face tougher penalties. Energy Minister Michael Shanks said the legislation would strengthen deterrence and help prevent, detect and respond to threats against energy supply.

The announcement also notes that the UK’s cable network is already highly resilient and that most faults come from accidents, such as anchors or trawler nets dragged across cables, from environmental hazards or from technical failures. It adds, however, that suspicious activity around the infrastructure is increasingly observed. The government recalls that in April the British Armed Forces exposed a covert Russian submarine operation around critical undersea infrastructure in and around UK waters.

A wider allied concern

Protection of seabed infrastructure has become a recurring item on allied security agendas. Geopolitiki has previously reported on NATO allies say they disrupted Russian subsea cable operation, in which NATO allies said they intercepted Russian specialist vessels near fibre-optic cables off Svalbard before any damage occurred.

The consultation will run for 12 weeks and seeks views from industry, experts and the public to help shape the final proposals. Once it closes, the government would need to bring forward legislation for Parliament to consider; the announcement does not give a timetable for that step.

Source: UK government press release, 22 October 2026.