Are you wondering how undersea cables are laid across the ocean? Worry not as you’ve visited the right site. Underwater cables are laid from uniquely designed ships which can carry thousands of miles of coiled cable in their holds. Nevertheless, the ships have to take necessary measures when laying out the fiber optic cables in the sea bed to make sure that they do not break or do not damage the amplifiers, and can function for many years to come.

For the cables to be laid in the sea successfully and safe, special techniques have to be applied and we’ve discussed them as follows:

Types Techniques Applied

When installing fiber optic cables, there are 4 main techniques used for different segments of a cable route and they include:

Shallow Waters

A lot of caution is needed when installing cables in shallow waters. This is because there is a lot of fishing that goes on in shallow waters and therefore, the cables should be buried to reduce damage on them. In such a scenario, Trawler equipment such as large beak trawls are utilized for totally severing an undersea cable. When installed in soft bottom places, suitable for ship anchoring, or for other bottom fishing techniques, the cable is laid properly to be protected from the fishing gear.

In such a situation, good Subsea Cable Protection is needed and thus, you should acquire services from reliable and proven subsea engineering firms like Ocean Specialists Inc.

Shoreline

This is one of the most challenging places to install undersea cables. This is because directional drilling techniques are normally applied to reduce the impacts on the beach and any nearshore reef.

Deep Ocean

Unlike shoreline cable laying, deep ocean Submarine Fiber Optic Cable Installation is easier as there are no anchoring or bottom-fishing gear expected to take place. As a result, the undersea cables are just laid flat on the ocean floor. This technique has no bad effect and it has almost zero maintenance required.

Hard Bottom Area

Installing undersea cables in hard bottom areas can be quite challenging. As a result, armored cables are applied while passing through places where burial is impossible and anchoring is expected. After being installed, these cables do not move laterally.

Undersea Cable Installation

Installing a cable underwater is environmentally a low impact commercial procedure, even when it comes to its operation, maintenance, and repair. In the past, installing of underwater cables was based mainly on long lines like intercontinental telecommunications which were not cost-effective at all and the cable ships were not in a position to handle short cable lengths.

The best method for submarine fiber optic cable installation or any other undersea cable is by excavating a trench filled in by natural processes in the sea bed, and thereafter, from a cable ship, installs a line of the flexible member with a lot of strength and lower cost than the cable. At last, the cable is installed in a distinct subsequent operation. But you also have the option of laying the undersea cable first and then burying it as a second operation.

Note that the line utilized in the procedure should be resistant to corrosion and in most cases, it should be made of steel hawser, so that it can reduce the danger of damage. And in case there is an obstruction when installing the line, a length of the line could possibly be retrieved and re-installed on a different path to prevent the obstruction. Alternatively, you can decide to suspend the installation until the obstruction is got rid of.

Conclusion

Overall, laying of cables in the ocean is a tedious and cumbersome process that may take days, months or even years depending on the distance covered. Submarine fiber optic cable installation is done using specially-modified ships that hold the undersea cables on board and slowly lay it on the seabed as per the plans of the operator in charge.

With regard to the tools on board the ship, the type of plough utilized, the sea conditions at the time, and the ocean-bed where the cable is going to be installed, cable ships can manage to lay from 100 to 150 km of underwater cable per day. But also, you should pick an experienced, reliable, and cost-effective subsea engineering company like Ocean Specialists Inc. Ocean Specialist Inc specializes in planning, design, implementation, and management of subsea fiber-optic networks. The company has delivered more than 200 subsea cable projects, thus they are very experienced.