Safeguarding the cables, pipelines and power links that run across the seabed is increasingly central to the security and economic resilience of both Singapore and the Netherlands. As highly connected maritime hubs, both countries rely on critical undersea infrastructure (CUI) for data flows, energy supply and trade – and face growing exposure to accidental damage, hybrid activities, and strategic competition.
Against this backdrop, Dr. Tim Sweijs and Benedetta Girardi recently visited Singapore for a seminar on critical undersea infrastructure protection, co-organised by HCSS with the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Singapore and the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). The event brought together practitioners and experts from both countries to examine how bilateral cooperation can strengthen protection, resilience and governance of undersea infrastructure.
The discussions converged three key takeaways for future Singapore–Netherlands cooperation:
1️⃣ Clarify norms and expectations
Developing shared understandings of international and domestic legal obligations, and agreed principles for responsible behaviour around undersea infrastructure, can provide a more predictable framework for both deterrence and crisis management.
2️⃣ Structure information-sharing and situational awareness
Moving from ad hoc, incident-driven exchanges towards more institutionalised channels between governments, operators and regional mechanisms would improve detection, attribution and coordinated response, while respecting commercial sensitivities.
3️⃣ Invest in joint research, technology and planning
Co-funded research, technical exchanges and integration of CUI considerations into existing cooperation on water management, ports and coastal resilience can generate practical innovations in monitoring, redundancy and repair capacity that benefit both regions.
HCSS is grateful to RSIS (and in particular Benjamin Ang and Sean Tan), the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Singapore, and all participants for a substantive and forward-looking discussion, and looks forward to continuing this collaboration on critical undersea infrastructure resilience. A special thank you goes to Ambassador Anneke Adema for hosting the seminar, and Nicoline Bos for the impeccable organisation.
This seminar is part of ongoing research on CUI protection carried out under HCSS Europe in the Indo-Pacific Hub. Official publications on the topic will follow soon!
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