Subsea Cable Vulnerabilities: How Breaks Are Detected and New Monitoring Technology

Detecting Subsea Cable Faults

• 💡 Reflectometers are used to detect breaks in subsea cables by shooting light down the cable and measuring the time delay of the light that bounces back.
• 🔍 If there is a clean break, the precise location of the fault can be determined.
• ⚠️ For issues like shunt faults, where electricity fails, pinpointing the exact location requires further investigation.

Challenges in Fault Detection

• 📉 Faults at shallower depths are generally easier to locate than those in deeper waters.
• ❓ The question of using unmanned vehicles to track cable systems and find breaks before a loss occurs is raised.

New Cable Monitoring Technology

• 🔊 A new technology allows for the detection of physical contact with a cable by analyzing changes in light signals, effectively "hearing" what is happening to the cable.
• ⚓ This technology can also detect nearby ships, such as those dropping anchor near the cable.
• 🚧 The industry's hesitation to widely adopt this technology stems from uncertainty about how it will be permitted, potentially complicating the permitting process.
• 🤝 To encourage adoption, there is a need to provide the industry with more assurance regarding what will be allowed.