The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) have formed the International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience to strengthen the resilience of this vital telecommunication infrastructure.

Per multiple media reports, the Advisory Body will address ways to improve cable resilience by promoting best practices for governments and industry players to ensure the timely deployment and repair of submarine cables, reduce the risks of damage, and enhance the continuity of communications over the cables.

“This body will identify key issues to ensure that submarine cables are built, deployed and maintained with a greater resiliency,” Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) told reporters ahead of the first meeting of the new group. “It’s definitely not just a technical issue, but an issue that can affect our economies and our societies. And however we see that this critical infrastructure is vulnerable to disruptions,” he said.

A follow-up summit is planned in Nigeria in February.

Penta-Ocean Construction has ordered a cable-laying vessel (CLV) from the PaxOcean Group that will cost an estimated $243 million and be one the largest, most advanced such ships.

A press releases said that Penta-Ocean Construction, a major Japanese construction firm, specializes in marine works and land reclamation. The company said the order reflects its plan to expand beyond offshore wind turbine construction into power cable installation, targeting future offshore wind power projects in Japan’s exclusive economic zone and other regions.

The CLV will be self-propelled and mounted with two 5,000-metric to cable carousels that can provide “safe and efficient cable laying in the open sea” even in severe ocean conditions. It will include a trencher for burying cables and  work class remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The vessel is scheduled to be delivered in February 2028.

The 14,000-dwt cable layer was designed by Norwegian firm Salt Ship Design. PaxOcean Group, based in Singapore, will build the ship at its Batam yard. “The cable layer is capable of laying and burying not only cables for bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines but also for floating-type offshore wind turbines, as well as submarine direct current power transmission cables,” Penta-Ocean said.

Per Penta-Ocean, the cable layer will be 50/50 owned by a company subsidiary and Fuyo General Lease Co, while the trencher and work class ROV will be 65/35 owned by a company subsidiary and Kojimagumi Co. Japanese ocean dredger company Kojimagumi will handle the vessel’s operational management.

Citing harsh market conditions, South Korea’s POSCO closed its No. 1 wire rod plant at Pohang Steelworks, where it had been in operation for 45 years and nine months.

Per a report in BusinessKorea, the Nov. 19 decision stemmed from a prolonged global oversupply of steel and a resulting decline in the profitability of steel products. The plant, which began operations on Feb. 28, 1979, has produced a cumulative total of 28 million tons of wire rod products over its lifespan.

The closure, the article said, marks the second shutdown for POSCO in 2024, following the closure of the No. 1 Steelmaking Plant in July. The company said that related to continued global oversupply of steel, the influx of low-priced steel products from overseas, and the aging of the facilities. It noted that  in 2023, global wire rod plants had a production capacity of approximately 200 million tons, but actual demand was only 90 million tons. China, with a production capacity of 140 million tons, began exporting wire rods at low prices to neighboring countries due to a sluggish domestic construction market, leading to a steady decline in global wire rod prices. This oversupply and price decline have significantly impacted the profitability of wire rod production, prompting POSCO to reassess its operations.

The No. 1 Wire Rod Plant had a significant role in POSCO’s history, producing wire rods used as materials for nails, screws and high-strength tire reinforcements for automobiles. POSCO plans to shift the production of high-strength tire cord and welding rod for ships and automobiles, previously manufactured at the No. 1 Wire Rod Plant, to the No. 2 to No. 4 Wire Rod Plants. Employees who worked at the No. 1 Wire Rod Plant were to be reassigned to other departments within the company.

Looking forward, POSCO aims to reduce the proportion of low-priced products and focus its production capacity on high-value-added products such as high-strength bolts for automobiles (CHQ), spring steel, and bearing steel. This strategic shift is intended to improve profitability and competitiveness in the global steel market. POSCO’s future plans to restructure its wire rod production and sales strategy indicate the company’s efforts to adapt to changing market conditions and maintain its competitive edge.

Of note, POSCO opened a wire rod processing plant in the U.S. in 2017, with annual production capacity of 25,000 tons. POSCO invested $20.9 million, which at the time represented POSCO’s second largest overseas wire rod processing center, next to its center in Mexico.

Prysmian reports that it has signed a Framework Agreement with Réseau de Transport d’Électricité (RTE), the French TSO, for the engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning (“EPCI”) of submarine power cable links.

A press release said that the links will connect two offshore wind farms to the French transmission grid, specifically the “Fos Project” and the “Narbonnaise Project”, covering both submarine and land parts (including also landfall works). The projects are subject to call off by RTE and finalization of the terms of the relevant EPCI contracts, which are expected to occur during the period 2026-2027. Delivery and commissioning is set for 2031-2032. These two EPCI contracts are altogether estimated at a potential value of approximately €700 million.

Each single project will consist of three High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) 225 kV three-core export cables with XLPE insulation, all equipped with synthetic armor. The approximately 400 km of land cables will be produced locally, in Gron, France, while the approximately 240 km of submarine cables will be manufactured at Prysmian’s centre of excellence in Arco Felice, Italy, and Pikkala, Finland, for a grand total of approx. 640 km of cables (land and submarine). Installation operation will be carried out using one of Prysmian’s proprietary advanced cable-laying vessels.

The Fos Project will be located on the coast of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and will require some 300 km of cables (land and submarine), while the Narbonnaise Project, located on the coast of Occitanie will require about 340 km of cables (land and submarine), providing individually a potential capacity of 750 MW.

The projects were described as having strategic importance for RTE’s long-term plan power grid plans. Prysmian has a strong relationship with RTE from previous projects such as the France-Spain (Bay of Biscay), France – UK (IFA2) and Italy-France (Piedmont-Savoy) interconnections. “The development of offshore wind in France confirms Prysmian’s leadership in the sector, following the completed projects for submarine power cables in other offshore wind farms such as Fécamp, Calvados and Saint Nazaire and ongoing projects as Noirmoutier.”