U.S. ratification of UNCLOS necessary to protect underseas cables and secure further rights for the industry

Even if the LOSC fails to classify subsea attack as piracy with full recourse to the convention's robust remedies, it does proscribe depredations against cables and pipelines under the high seas and the EEZ. As discussed above, the traditional rights of U.S. cable owners outside of territorial waters have been victimized by a dearth of enforcing legislation. By delaying the ratification of the LOSC, this lack of effective prosecution persists.¹⁵⁷

World telecom companies rightly believe that the LOSC facilitates more confident investments than simply operating under the bare aegis of customary international law.¹⁵⁸ Simply defending against customary law encroachments does not deter underwater attack, but with U.S. ratification, U.S. telecom and energy companies as well as the U.S. Navy could seek greater government assistance in enforcing propert rights and undersea infrastructure security outside of territorial seas.¹⁵⁹ Moreover, all U.S. stakeholders would have a firmer basis in holding other states responsible for their loss.¹⁶⁰

As a condition for ratifying LOSC, the United States could take the helm in updating the convention to meet new military and commercial paradigms since it was first drafted three decades ago. Such revisions may include one or more of the following proposals.