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International Cable Protection Committee?

ITU Workshop Submarine Cables for Ocean/Climate Monitoring & Disaster Warning The Technology – An Operations Perspective Mr. Michael Costin Executive Committee Member International Cable Protection Committee Rome - 9 September 2011. International Cable Protection Committee?.

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International Cable Protection Committee?

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  1. ITU Workshop Submarine Cables for Ocean/Climate Monitoring & Disaster WarningThe Technology – An Operations PerspectiveMr. Michael CostinExecutive Committee MemberInternational Cable Protection CommitteeRome - 9 September 2011

  2. International Cable Protection Committee? • ICPC is an industry body comprising submarine cable owners/operators, system manufacturers, service providers and government stakeholders. • ICPC supports its members with environmental, legal and technical information and advice • ICPC current prime activities are in: • Developing best practice advice • Promoting awareness of submarine cables as critical infrastructure • Monitoring the evolution of international treaties and national legislation to protect submarine cable interests

  3. The Challenge of Change • Rapid development of offshore renewable energy • Increased incidence of damage caused by shipping • Seabed becoming crowded in some areas • Need to maintain harmony with other seabed users • Need to ensure harmony with seabed environment • Need to improve security of submarine cables • Increased regulation of coastal and high seas

  4. Typical Submarine Cable System Network ManagementSystem Armoured Cable TerminalEquipment LightweightCable Repeater Cable Station Source: U.K. Cable Protection Committee & Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks

  5. Submarine Cable Network • Global submarine cable network comprises hundreds of commercial, independently owned, domestic and international systems • International systems can cost up to several hundred million Euros to build. • Project development/build takes 2-4 years • International consortium formation and funding focussed upon commercial risks. • International project development concerned for regulatory and permitting issues

  6. Submarine Cable Build • Cable operators focus upon routing cables for the: • Safest route to avoid areas of natural (undersea volcanoes) and man-made (designated anchorage and trawl zones) hazards and environmental sensitivity • Shortest possible route so as to minimise latency • Cable operators aim to apply the best cable type for each part of the route, having regard for potential threats from fishing and anchors, whilst minimising cost • Bury the cable into the seabed to mitigate potential threats from fishing and anchoring. New cables target burial up to 3 metres subject to the assessed threat level.

  7. Threats From External Aggression % 80 60 40 20 1980 1990 2000 1960 1970 • Fishing – high incidence but impact restricted to individual cables • Anchors – medium but increasing incidence that can impact several cables • Natural Hazards (e.g. earthquakes) – low incidence but can impact multiple cables Fishing Anchors Cable faults caused by external aggressiondemonstrate the impact of human activities Base data provided by Tyco Telecommunications & Global Marine Systems Published in Wood & Carter (2008) IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering

  8. Hengchun 2006: An Earthquake that Caused Major Disruption to the Cable Network Eurasian Plate 80 mm/yr Philippine Plate • (Source: Prof. Lionel Carter, ICPC Marine Environmental Advisor) • Earthquake triggered submarine landslides near the junction of 2 tectonic plates. China Okinawa Trough • Landslides caused turbidity current that flowed over 330 km & broke 9 cables in sequence. Chinese Taipei Ryuku Trench • From the timing of breaks, the average speed of the turbidity current was ~20km/hr. • Damage occurred in water depths to 4000m - some cables covered with mud from current. • Cable repairs involved 11 ships & took 49 days. Modified from Source: Anderson M., U. Arizona Geosciences

  9. Submarine Cable Operation • Submarine cable system threats can result in a complete cable breakage or a “shunt” fault of the cable’s conductor used for powering repeaters. • Restoration of traffic when a cable breaks or for repair of a shunt fault can take days • Multiple cable breaks can have an impact of several weeks, even several months

  10. Submarine Cable Maintenance • Cable repair works typically take 7-10 days to complete, but the actual duration of a cable outage will be affected by: • Location of fault relative to the repair vessel • Type of fault (i.e. Shunt or complete break) • Securing any requisite permits/clearances, which can take up to several weeks • Weather conditions • Cable outages can take months to clear.

  11. Multi-Purpose Submarine Cables • Some power-telecommunications cables • Issue of primary/priority purpose of cable • Cable operators do not repair/replace repeaters with faulted components if the overall system performance is maintained. • If a fault arises with the plant/equipment for the secondary purpose, what priority will its repair have?

  12. Sharing the seabed in harmony General Enquiries to ICPC: +44 1590 681673 Email: secretary@iscpc.org

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