Construction continues on the Asia-Africa-Europe One (AAE-1) subsea cable system, a collaborative project between 17 global service providers to create a 25,000km subsea cable system to connect Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
At completion, the project will connect 18 countries including Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Yemen, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Italy and France.
View a map of the proposed AAE-1 Cable.
Read about the Indian leg of the system.
As the world becomes more and more connected, reliable and high quality subsea cable hardware will become a necessity. PMI’s years of experience and knowledge of subsea conditions will be the solution to the many problems that can develop in the unpredictable waters off shore. PMI is ready to continue developing innovative hardware solutions to solve your subsea and engineering issues. Let us help you tackle your offshore project needs.
We have previously discussed the various ways subsea cables can be damaged underwater (Link: https://pmiind.com/damage-to-subsea-cables-a-huge-risk-to-offshore-wind-farms/), but how are these cables fixed? The answer lies on a ship like the Pierre de Fermat, a ship specially designed for undersea cable repairs. Once the break location is identified, the ship launches a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to retrieve the cable and return it to the ship.
The repairing process of a cable isn’t the simplest process, as we’ve explained in our blog post “When it comes to subsea cable repair, time is of the essence”. As the cable is being repaired, cables and equipment are vulnerable to damage by other vessels and fishing gear. It’s a delicate feat that requires speed and precise navigation in some of the most extreme ocean environments. Because of this, subsea cable hardware should provide secure, fast assembly. Once the cable is repaired, the ROV returns to the sea floor and attaches the newly repaired piece of cable to the existing subsea cable network and uses high pressure water jets to bury the cable.
To read more about the fascinating process of repairing subsea cables, check out the article “This Giant Robot Fixes Undersea Broadband Cables“.
PMI’s proven, high quality subsea hardware is the ideal solution increase subsea cable performance, assist in cable reparation, and in ROV and ship attachments. Call us today to chat about how our solutions can help your subsea cable problems.
Below the surface of the earth’s crust, there is constant movement as tectonic plates slide past one another and bump into each other. These plates have rough edges that sometimes get stuck. When this happens, the rest of the plates keep moving, and when the edges finally unstick, it causes earthquakes. For centuries, scientists have been trying to study these plate shifts to better understand, and maybe predict when and where earthquakes will hit next. The dramatically deep trenches on the ocean floor where oceanic plates converge would be the ideal location to study these shifts, but due to the cost and difficulty of reaching these locations, scientists have only been able to catch quick glimpses of what’s going on under the surface.
The relatively recent advent of fiber optic cables have dramatically changed the way scientists study tectonic plates on the ocean floor. University of Washington oceanographer John Delaney was one of the first scientists to come up with the idea to attach a network of sensors to subsea cables that could transmit data instantly and continuously. His idea of an “underwater observatory” has recently come into fruition off the Northwest coast of the US and Canada. A constant stream of data from this observatory is now capturing events that scientists have previously only been able to examine after the fact, including the first recording of an eruption of an underwater volcano as it happened.
For more information about Delaney’s work on seismic testing with fiber-optic cables, watch this video: UW scientists capture underwater eruption with new fiber-optic array, set up HD web cam
PMI’s cable management and bending strain relief hardware is already integral in marine seismic data acquisition, as we’ve mentioned in our article “Cable Hardware Adds Productivity to PGS’ 3D Seismic Acquisition Vessels”. As seismic technology and marine exploration continues to evolve, PMI is ready to provide quality hardware to solve the next generation of issues. Contact us today to schedule an appointment to talk to our experts.
