蜜芽传媒

The 'accidental' severing of undersea cables or pipelines seem an almost daily occurrence these days. How reliant are we on this infrastructure, how much of it is there, and what steps are being taken to protect it? Business and economics editor Douglas Fraser investigates who might be behind these thinly veiled acts of sabotage and what their motivation might be.

The use of merchant vessels dragging anchors through subsea internet cables is part of a campaign of hybrid warfare, acts of aggression that are carefully calibrated to have just enough deniability so as to make a military response difficult. Those perpetrating these acts want there to be no doubt though over who is behind it however and Russia is the prime suspect in almost every case.

With much of the activity happening in the North and Baltic seas Douglas travels to Norway to see how the Navy there have long anticipated this risk and have partnered with the oil and gas industry to create a 'total defence' concept that extends deep beneath the waves. He explores whether technology is the answer by using AI enabled sensor nets to create a burglar alarm system for the sea floor.

Presenter Douglas Fraser
Producer: Peter McManus
Assistant producer: Emily Esson
Researcher: Juliet Conway