The United Nations and other international agencies have created an advisory body focused on the protection of submarine cables following several recent incidents. 

On Friday, the United Nations Agency for Digital Technologies said it is partnering with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) to create the International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience.  

“Submarine cables carry over 99 percent of international data exchanges, making their resilience a global imperative," ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin said in a statement. “The Advisory Body will mobilize expertise from around the world to ensure this vital digital infrastructure remains resilient in the face of disasters, accidents, and other risks."

The creation of the body comes just days after Sweden, Germany and Lithuania all launched criminal investigations into a Chinese ship that damaged one subsea cable connecting Finland to Germany and another tying Sweden to Lithuania. 

There is still debate over whether the incident was an accident or intentional, but a Chinese government spokesperson said on Wednesday that Beijing is “working with all countries to maintain the security of international submarine cables and other infrastructure in accordance with international law.”

The advisory body will focus on ways to improve the security of cables, promote best practices for governments and ensure the timely repair of broken cables. 

The ICPC said there are an average of 150 to 200 incidents causing damage to submarine cables each year, requiring about three cable repairs each week. 

Most of the incidents are accidents, with damage typically caused by ship anchors, fishing or natural disasters. 

The advisory body will have 40 members and be co-chaired by senior officials from the governments of Nigeria and Portugal. 

“Submarine cables are essential to the functioning of our connected world, but they face risks that require coordinated, proactive action," said co-chair Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications.

The body will meet at least twice a year and work with tech industry experts, with the first virtual meeting coming in Decemberand another in-person meeting being held in Abuja, Nigeria in February. 

There have been dozens of high-profile situations where submarine cables have been damaged enough to cut off entire countries from the internet, including one earlier this year that left 13 countries in Africa without internet access for days.  

Cuts to three undersea cables in the Red Sea in March caused internet outages across the Middle East. 

In September, U.S. officials kickstarted a project to better safeguard undersea cables. The U.S. cyber ambassador told Recorded Future News that the project will also see the U.S. partner with Pacific Island governments to add a branch to an existing commercial project by Google to lay 25,000 kilometers of trunk cable and help the countries connect to the digital ecosystem.