Reply to post:

Globe-spanning SEA-ME-WE 3 sea cable feared cut, broken or ...

Knoydart
Boffin

Typically if the location of the fault is "known", they use big grappling hooks to drag the cable to the surface up to the cable repair ship, then splice the ends in the on board clean room, test and sent it back down.

If the amplifier has gone faulty, they have to send down an rov to cut the cable first, and then drag up the ends to fix and splice the cable.

Added to the fact that you have to get a specialist cable repair ship first to the scene (check up the stupid situation that Indonesia pulled recently about only using a locally flagged vessel), then find the cable on the sea bed, then there are multiple layers of protection on the cable itself and usually around 10,000V too on the power supply wire, as you need to power those amplifiers somehow, its not as simple as a choc block and some heat shrink bodge.

Lab icon, as clean room required to fix it.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon