Maritime experts call for practical cooperation on Arctic shipping, cables and deep-sea mining

Experts at a maritime governance symposium in Sanya, China, said emerging ocean risks are outpacing current rules. The discussions pointed to better coordination, faster incident sharing and wider stakeholder involvement as priorities for the South China Sea and beyond.

Why it matters: - Maritime activity is expanding into areas where legal and technical rules are still catching up. - Speakers said weaker coordination raises risks for submarine cables, shipping lanes and emerging sectors such as deep-sea mining. - The debate matters for the South China Sea, where cooperation could help protect essential activity even if geopolitical rivalry continues.

What happened: - The 7th Symposium on Global Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance took place in Sanya, China, from Nov. 6 to 8, 2026. - The Huayang Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance hosted the event. - Session 6 focused on Arctic shipping, submarine infrastructure security and deep-sea mining. - Former Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo opened by flagging maritime safety and environmental protection as areas for practical cooperation.

The details: - Niklas Swanström of the Institute for Security and Development Policy said submarine cables and pipelines are vulnerable. - Swanström said existing legal frameworks have struggled to address problems exposed by recent incidents in the Baltic Sea. - Swanström said low trust and weak transparency make investigations and international responses harder. - Swanström proposed timely incident notification, joint investigations and information sharing. - Zhao Long of Shanghai Institutes for International Studies said disruptions at maritime chokepoints can hit global supply chains. - Zhao said Arctic shipping could add transport options but cannot replace established maritime corridors. - Mads Frederiksen of the Arctic Economic Council said Arctic shipping still faces inadequate infrastructure, limited investment and shortages of skilled personnel. - Hong Nong of ICAS said deep-sea mining raises uncertainty over long-term environmental impacts from new technology. - Hong said national regulatory approaches differ and remain hard to align with an international framework. - Anthony Grima said multilateral governance remains essential. - Grima said unilateral regulatory approaches could fragment the international legal order. - Grima said existing frameworks still matter, but they need to adapt to technological and environmental change. - Su Wai Mon of NUS said modern maritime security requires cooperation across maritime, terrestrial, cyber and space domains. - Su said governments and industry both need to be involved. - Yeo said joint resource development depends on greater mutual trust.

Between the lines: - The discussion points to a shift from broad principles to operational cooperation. - Participants focused less on abstract rulemaking and more on concrete tools such as notification systems, shared data and joint responses. - The South China Sea and the Arctic face different conditions, but both expose the limits of single-country solutions. - The call for more scientific institutions, industry stakeholders, maritime operators and think tanks reflects a recognition that governments may not have all the technical capacity needed.

What's next: - Governments may face growing pressure to align national rules with regional and international governance frameworks. - Expect more emphasis on cable protection, navigational safety, emergency response and technical information sharing. - Broader participation from non-government actors could shape future monitoring, infrastructure protection and crisis preparedness. - The article's central takeaway is that practical cooperation, not perfect consensus, is the near-term path for managing emerging ocean risks.