A media giant is suing scallop farmers for $870K, accusing them of damaging its underwater cable

• Virgin Media is suing an Irish fishing trawler for $870,000 over damage to an undersea cable.
• The telecoms giant claims that the trawler damaged a fiber optic cable while fishing for scallops.

UK telecoms giant Virgin Media is suing a fishing trawler for more than $870,000, according to Irish media, accusing those on board of damaging one of its undersea fiber optic cables.

Virgin Media, the primary cable supplier in the UK, is suing the owners and all those claiming an interest in The Lida Suzanna, an 82-foot-long, Irish-registered fishing vessel, according to documents filed in Ireland's High Court.

The case relates to an incident that took place more than nine years ago.

According to the Irish Independent, Virgin Media claims that the trawler damaged a subsea fiber optic cable while fishing for scallops on January 26, 2015.

Scallop fishing involves towing dredges along a seabed to catch scallops, which can inadvertently damage underwater cables, which are often thousands of miles long and usually laid on the ocean floor.

According to WIRED, breaks in undersea cables are nearly always caused by fishing trawlers or dragging anchors.

The International Cable Protection Committee estimates that repairing a submarine cable can cost up to $3 million.

The 2015 incident required Virgin Media to charter a repair ship and deploy a remotely operated vehicle to fix the break, WIRED reported at the time. This caused days of repair work and slowed internet service, it said.

At a hearing on Tuesday, according to the Irish Times, Virgin Media's lawyers argued that the defendants should have been aware of the cable's location, as it was marked on industry-recognized charts and Ireland's Marine Atlas.

But the defendants argue that there is no proof that The Lida Suzanna was to blame, according to the Irish Independent.

They also argued that Virgin Media would have been responsible for the damage even if the vessel had physically caused it, because it failed to take measures to bury or protect the cable, the newspaper said.

Legal representatives for the trawler's owners did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

In a statement sent to BI by email, a Virgin Media spokesperson said the company brought the claim in response to "significant damage" caused to the undersea cables, and it is seeking to recover the cost associated with the repair.

The spokesperson added: "As a business with millions of customers who rely on fast and reliable connectivity, we hope that through taking this action, third parties will be better aware of the cost that can be involved and disruption it can cause when our cables are damaged."

This lawsuit follows a similar case in which Virgin Media went after another Irish fishing vessel. High Court documents show that it sued The M V Willie Joe in 2018, settling the case in 2022.