CIL Research Fellow Dita Liliansa participated in the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) Conference on Regional Maritime Security Outlook 2026, held in Singapore on 22–23 January 2026. She was invited to speak on Panel 5: The Undersea Domain in Southeast Asia: Risks, Resilience, and Cooperation. Her presentation examined the protection of submarine cables in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in both peacetime and wartime.

Using recent submarine cable damage incidents in the Baltic Sea as a point of departure, she highlighted how these incidents have exposed a jurisdictional gap in the EEZ to protect subsea cables. She explained that while Article 113 of UNCLOS places primary responsibility on flag States to criminalise and prosecute damage to submarine cables beyond the territorial sea, enforcement often falters where flag States lack capacity, political will, or relevant implementing legislation, or where vessels are stateless. This gap has prompted responses such as Estonia’s proposal to amend its domestic laws to extend criminal jurisdiction over foreign vessels in its EEZ in order to better protect critical underwater infrastructure.

Against growing concerns over grey-zone operations in Southeast Asia, her presentation also addressed wartime rules governing submarine cables, including whether attacks on submarine cables may constitute an armed attack triggering the right of self-defence under the UN Charter, and the legal constraints on targeting submarine cables located in neutral EEZs during armed conflict.