DUBAI, 26th September 2013 (WAM)-- E-marine, a leading provider of submarine cable installation and repair solutions in the Middle East region, has successfully completed a challenging cable repair in the Arabian Sea, despite battling with severe weather conditions, to restore service to the FLAG Europe-Asia (fibre-optic link around the world, EA) network on behalf of Reliance Globalcom Limited.
The repair was carried out in water approximately 4,000 metres deep, and during recovery the damaged cable parted at the joint between the main high tension cable and the branching unit. Further investigation by E-marine and the on-board Reliance Globalcom representative revealed previous damage to the joint which was very likely the cause of the original cable fault, according to a press statement from E-marine. Brad Kneller, Vice President at Reliance Globalcom Limited, said, "E-marine?s assigned cable ship and on-board crew worked in extreme weather conditions for the duration of the repair. The damaged cable was quickly recovered and new cable, repeater and branching unit spliced in, tested and re-laid successfully, thanks to close coordination between the ship?s crew and the Reliance Globalcom on-shore support teams. "In total, the repair took approximately 40 days to complete. Had E-marine management not been fully supportive of the operation being undertaken during the monsoon season, the repair could easily have taken a further 30 - 60 days, waiting for suitable weather windows in which to undertake the work. This was a terrific effort in very difficult conditions and a truly outstanding accomplishment," added Kneller. The FLAG cable network provides a vital telecommunications link to the markets of Western Europe and Japan through the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia and China, but local services became impacted recently after a suspected repeater failure on the branch to Fujairah, UAE.The cable owners, Reliance Globalcom Limited, engaged E-marine to replace the repeater which required attending to a malfunctioning branching unit in the Arabian Sea. E-marine immediately deployed its largest cable ship, Niwa, which set sail from Sharjah, UAE, with a highly skilled crew and technical staff on board to fix the fault.
"The E-marine crew battled through extremely severe weather during the monsoon season, with winds almost always above 35 knots, and sea swells above 20 to 35 feet, which was well above the normal range of 8 to 12 feet. Despite the difficult conditions, the crew completed the operation with less than 20 hours downtime, reducing any impact to local services," E-marine said.
Omar Jassim bin Kalban, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of E-marine, said, "Damage to submarine cables and their capability can impact not just the areas they are located, but the entire world. Whole countries and their economies can be hugely impacted by subsea cable damages, which could lead to a loss of regional network transmission. This is why repairing and maintaining submarine cables both efficiently and economically is so vital for our customers.
Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2013.
