The secret is kept, the world announces the laying of several new transocean optical cables every year. But people are increasingly worried about who will be responsible for maintaining these optical cables.
Submarine Fiber Optic Cable Data provided by SubTel Forum shows that there are 77 optical cable ships in the world, but most are focused on the more profitable work of laying new systems. Only 22 were designated for maintenance, the fleet is aging, and the ships are often halfway, such as one of them used to be a tugboat. There was another one that used to be a ferry. Global Marine recently said it is trying to extend the life of its repair ship to 40 years due to a lack of funds. The design life of bulk carriers and tankers is 20 years.
He mentioned a case last year when four of Vietnam's five submarine optical cables were broken,
submarine cable but it was not caused by catastrophic events but was just a common problem caused by fishing, shipping, and technical failures. However because the nearby repair ships are already busy with other things, these optical cables in Vietnam have not been repaired for six months.
What you have to face is the harshest environment on the earth, an ocean that is 8 kilometers deep, using quite high technology to travel around the world. You are at the forefront of the world, which is crucial to the way the entire world works now. ”
The claim that sharks eat undersea optical cables has been repeated in news reports and even in some government reports, resulting from an incident in the late 1980s: the first batch of undersea optical cables tested on the coast of the Canary Islands, which have been mysteriously malfunctioning. When the repair boat dragged it up for inspection, it was found that the animal's teeth were embedded near the break. So a study was started, where scientists at Bell Laboratory measured the chin radius and bite force and also tried to feed captured sharks with cable samples. Finally, it was discovered that the culprit of this incident was a deep-water crocodile shark, probably attracted by the electromagnetic field emitted by the power repeater. Wrapping optical cables with metal strips seems to solve the shark's problem. Fish attacks have caused malfunctions that have not occurred for many years. The culprit is almost always human. However, the claim that sharks eat optical cables still exists, probably because the idea that modern products are destroyed by prehistoric creatures is fascinating.
