Deep-sea umbilical cables are known as the “deep-sea lifeline” and play a key role in the development of deep-sea resources.
With the development of science and technology, the rise of emerging fields such as AI mining has brought a trillion-level new blue ocean to the deep sea umbilical cable industry.
From an industry definition, according to national standards, an umbilical cable is a composite cable that connects surface facilities and underwater production systems or operating equipment, and has functions such as power supply, signal transmission, hydraulic drive, and chemical agent transportation.
Its core functions include providing power for underwater equipment, realizing real-time communication between the underwater control system and the surface platform, providing power for hydraulic equipment, and transporting chemicals, etc.
Its core components include hydraulic/chemical agent tubes, fiber optic units, power cables, armor layers and sheaths, etc., and can be classified according to structure, function, application scenarios and working water depth.
In terms of industry standard systems, there is the international API SPEC 17E standard and the domestic standard GB/T 21412.5-2017. The China Classification Society has also issued relevant specifications. In 2026, it also released the group standard “Technical Requirements for Deep Sea Umbilical Cables”.
The industrial chain of the deep sea umbilical cable industry covers three links: upstream, midstream and downstream.
The upstream mainly supplies raw materials such as special steels and alloy materials, high-performance polymer materials, optical fibers and conductive materials, hydraulic hoses and connectors; the midstream is responsible for spiral winding structure design, long-length continuous manufacturing, armor molding, umbilical cable terminal manufacturing and full-scale testing and certification; the downstream is used in deep-sea oil and gas field underwater production systems, deep-sea mining, offshore wind farms, ROV and deep-sea exploration equipment, seabed observation networks and naval defense systems.
In terms of competition, the global umbilical cable market is highly concentrated.
The first echelon is dominated by international giants such as Nexans, TechnipFMC, and Aker Solutions; the second echelon includes regional leading companies such as Oceaneering, Prysmian Group, and JDR Cable Systems; and the third echelon is emerging forces such as China Oriental Cable, Zhongtian Technology, and Hengtong Optoelectronics.
Domestic companies have made breakthrough progress in key areas such as ultra-deep water heavy-duty umbilical cables, but there is still a certain gap compared with international giants, and some core raw materials and key accessories rely on imports.
There are many core drivers of this industry.
In terms of policy, the maritime power strategy continues to increase, providing policy dividends for industry development; in terms of energy security, my country’s deepwater oil and gas resources are abundant but the degree of development is low, and the market demand for domestic umbilical cables has steadily increased; in terms of emerging application scenarios, the commercialization of deep-sea mining and the expansion of offshore wind power into the deep sea have brought huge incremental space; in terms of technology integration, the deep integration of AI technology has promoted the transformation of the industry into a comprehensive solution provider of “hardware + software + services”.
In the future, the deep sea umbilical cable industry will show various development trends.
Application scenarios will be diversified and expanded, and deep-sea mining and offshore wind power will become important growth points; the technological direction will accelerate the evolution, and all-electric subsea control systems, large water depths, large lengths, high integration, green environmental protection and lightweight design, real-time condition monitoring and predictive maintenance will become the focus of development; AI
Integration with the industry will continue to deepen; the trend of vertical integration of the industrial chain is obvious, and major global companies are strengthening their efforts to extend from single product manufacturing to full-chain services; localization will also be advanced in depth, and domestic umbilical cables will continue to make breakthroughs in ultra-deep water, large lengths, and heavy loads.
However, the deep sea umbilical cable industry also faces some barriers, such as technical barriers, capital barriers, qualification and certification barriers, etc.
Despite this, the industry still has broad development prospects driven by policy support, market demand and technological innovation.
