PORTSMOUTH, United Kingdom & DURHAM, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Each year, the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) and the Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law and Policy (Rhodes Academy) sponsor the Rhodes Academy-ICPC Submarine Cables Writing Award for a deserving paper addressing submarine cables and their relationship with the law of the sea. Applicants to, and graduates of, the Rhodes Academy are eligible to compete for the award, in a competition administered by the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore. With the award, the ICPC and the Rhodes Academy seek to foster scholarship regarding submarine cables (the infrastructure of the Internet) and the law of the sea and promote the rule of law as applied to submarine cables. The referees of the 2024 competition chose Albert Vlodder of Canada as the winner for his paper, ‘The Consequences of Damaging Submarine Cables: An Examination of the Applicability of Effects Jurisdiction over the Unlawful Act of Damaging Submarine Cables on the High Seas.’ Vlodder is currently a Doctoral Researcher at Åbo Akademi University in Finland.
The Rhodes Academy. Each year, the Rhodes Academy brings together approximately 50 mid-career professionals from around the world to study and learn from leading ocean law and science scholars, judges, and practitioners about the law of the sea and its key legal instrument, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Academy is organised by a consortium of research universities and institutes, led by the School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering at the University of New Hampshire. For more information about the Rhodes Academy and the writing competition, see https://marine.unh.edu/academics/rhodes-academy and https://marine.unh.edu/international-cable-protection-committee-writing-award.
The Award. Each year, the winner will receive either guaranteed admission and a full scholarship (covering the attendance fee, travel expenses, and shared hotel room) to the Rhodes Academy, or for a Rhodes Academy graduate from a prior year, a cash award of £4,500. The winner will receive assistance from the Rhodes Academy in seeking publication of the winning paper and will also be invited to speak at the next ICPC Plenary meeting. The papers of all past winners have been published in peer-reviewed journals.
About the ICPC. ICPC is the world’s leading organisation promoting submarine cable protection and resilience. The ICPC works with its members, governments, international organisations, other marine industries, and the scientific community to: mitigate risks of natural and human damage to cables; develop recommendations and best practices for industry and governments throughout the cable project life cycle; promote scientific research addressing how cables exist in the marine environment; and promote the rule of law for the oceans. Founded in 1958 the ICPC has over 220 members from over 70 nations, including cable operators, owners, manufacturers, and industry service providers, as well as governments. For further information about the ICPC, visit www.iscpc.org and www.linkedin.com/company/icpc-ltd/.
