After failure of important submarine cable to Spitsbergen: photos show damage
When an undersea cable to Spitsbergen failed in 2022, the world's largest satellite ground station was also affected. The cause is only suspected.
SvalSat on Spitsbergen
(Image: , CC BY 2.0)
More than two years after one of the two submarine cables between the mainland and the Norwegian archipelago of Spitsbergen failed, photos of the damage have now been released. The Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reports and shows the pictures. They show that the outer layer of the fiber optic cable has been severed and the reinforcement damaged. The crack had allowed seawater to come into contact with the copper layer through which electricity is conducted to amplify the fiber optic signals. The current therefore flowed directly into the ground and the cable failed. It is still unclear exactly how the damage occurred. However, there is at least one suspicion.
The submarine cable failed on January 7, 2022; it is one of two that connect Spitsbergen in the North Atlantic with the Norwegian mainland. This meant that the backup for connecting the world's largest satellite ground station to the rest of the world had also failed. According to the report, after the investigation began, the police initially identified human activity as the cause, but eventually dropped the investigation due to a lack of evidence. However, in early summer 2022, NRK reported that a Russian trawler had crossed the cable over 140 times - several dozen times before it was damaged. However, the deep-sea fishermen responsible denied any responsibility.
Several clues, no proof
Even the photos that have now become public do not indicate the cause of the damage, writes NRK. The damage could have been caused by a trawl or a ship's anchor being dragged across the seabed and hitting the cable, the broadcaster quotes an expert. At the same time, however, it points out that there is no indication that an anchor dragged the cable. A trawler and its trawl net are therefore more likely to be the cause. This is also indicated by images of the seabed. The operator of the submarine cable does not want to speculate about the cause and points out that the police have not been able to prove human activity.
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The Svalbard Undersea Cable System not only connects the two and a half thousand or so people on Svalbard - the official name of the archipelago - to the Internet and the rest of the world, but also the world's largest satellite ground station, Svalbard satellittstasjon (SvalSat). With over 100 antennas, unlike almost everywhere else, satellites in a low polar orbit can be contacted there once every time they orbit the earth, including those of the Copernicus program. The station is operated by the semi-public company Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (KSAT). The two submarine cables were laid in 2003 to connect the station safely and reliably to the global communications infrastructure. The second one was repaired last summer.
(mho)
