Undersea Cables: The Unseen Backbone of the Global Internet
with someone on the other side of the globe with barely a hint of delay? Behind these everyday miracles lies an unseen, sprawling web of undersea cables, quietly powering the instant global communications that people have come to rely on.Undersea cables, also known as submarine communications cables, are fiber-optic cables laid on the ocean floor and used to transmit data between continents. These cables are the backbone of the global internet, carrying the bulk of international communications, including email, webpages and video calls. More than 95% of all the data that moves around the world goes through
Exail Launches SWaP-C AUV Inertial Nav System
Exail launched its latest product, the Phins 9 Compact, an inertial navigation system (INS) designed for all unmanned underwater vehicles.The Phins 9 Compact is built around a Fiber-Optic Gyroscope (FOG)-based Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) with advanced accelerometers. With compact dimensions, a DVL-aided position accuracy of 0.1% TD, and a power consumption of less than 7 W, it is particularly suited for compact subsea vehicles operating in demanding applications with low power requirements.“The Phins 9 Compact represents a significant advancement in subsea navigation technology," said
Jan De Nul Inks Two Contracts with TenneT
and offshore installation.XL cable-laying vessel Fleeming Jenkin, an Ultra Low Emission vessel (ULEv) with unrivalled carrying capacity of up to 28,000 tonnes, will transport and install the 525kV HVDC offshore cables. The two power core cables together with the metallic return cable as well as a fiber optic cable will be installed simultaneously using the three carousels and fiber optic tank onboard the Fleeming Jenkin.Apart from the ULEv technology, the ship is equipped with hybrid engines that can run on both biofuel and green methanol. This significantly reduces CO2 emissions. The 2.5 MWh battery
Ocean Engineers and Scientists Share Ideas, Challenges at International Arctic Workshop
technology officer for Naval Undersea Warfare Center Headquarters (Photo: Leif Heimbold / U.S. Navy)Naval War College professor Kathleen Walsh led an expert panel discussion on Arctic Geopolitical Scene Setting. Naval War College experts discussed securing sea lines of communication, gas pipelines and fiber-optic cables in the North Sea, and the expansion of Russia and China’s Polar Silk Road in the Arctic region.NUWC Division Newport ocean engineer Michelle Estaphan Owen of the Platforms and Payload Integration Department shared her expertise in unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) as part of the
Finland Says China Promised Full Cooperation in Pipeline Probe
authorities will not only take it seriously, but will also fully cooperate with us," she said.Two telecoms cables linking Estonia to Finland and Sweden were damaged on the same night between Oct.7-8, authorities said last month, and Russia's Rostelecom on Tuesday revealed that one of its fiber optic cables had also been hit.Data from shipping intelligence firm MarineTraffic, reviewed by Reuters, showed that the NewNew Polar Bear passed over the pipeline and the telecoms cables in the space of less than nine hours.Rostelecom will, however, not seek compensation for the damage to its cable
Russian Firm Says Baltic Telecoms Cable was Severed as Chinese Ship Passed Over
A Russian fiber optic cable under the Baltic Sea was completely severed last month when a Chinese container ship passed over it, state company Rostelecom said on Tuesday.Finnish investigators have already said they suspect the vessel, the NewNew Polar Bear, of causing serious damage to the nearby Balticconnector gas pipeline by dragging its anchor over the sea bed during the same voyage.Two other Baltic telecoms cables were damaged on the same night of Oct. 7 along the route that the ship was travelling, according to shipping data reviewed by Reuters.The incidents have highlighted the vulnerability of
Russia Says Telecoms Cable Damaged Last month Just Before Nearby Baltic Gas Pipeline
the "accident" to the fibre cable that links Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad to the rest of the country.However, it noted the proximity of the incident to the damaged Balticconnector gas pipeline, in terms of both geography and timing."Damage to the Rostelecom company's fiber optic cable in the Baltic Sea was recorded on October 7, 2023 at 23:30 (Moscow time). The location of the cable damage is located 28 km from the section of the Baltic Connector gas pipeline damaged on October 8," it said.Finnish police leading the pipeline investigation have named the
Advanced Navigation Unveils Hi-Tech Robotics Facility in Australia for AI-Powered Navigation Systems
, has unveiled a new high-tech robotics facility for autonomous systems based at the UTS Tech Lab in Botany, New South Wales (NSW), Australia.The facility will scale up the manufacturing of Advanced Navigation’s world-first AI navigation systems for GPS-denied environments, including its digital fiber-optic gyroscope (DFOG) technology, Boreas.Advanced Navigation says it is one of only four companies in the world with the capability to manufacture strategic grade fiber-optic gyroscopes."This technology empowers reliable navigation for marine vessels, space missions, aerospace, defense, autonomous
U.S. Revives Cold War Submarine Spy Program to Counter China
Navy’s surveillance push is driven by three main factors, according to the three people with direct knowledge of the plans. First is the meteoric rise of China as a sea power and the potential for its vessels to attack Taiwan or sabotage critical undersea infrastructure, including oil pipelines and fiber-optic internet cables.Second is Ukraine’s success in employing new maritime warfare tactics in its counteroffensive against invading Russian forces; Ukraine has used relatively cheap unmanned sea vehicles to strike enemy ships and bridges. This development has exposed the vulnerability of large
February 2024
