History
The history of submarine telecommunication networks is a fascinating one, and the company that is today Global Marine Systems has been involved in the installation of submarine cable networks since the first cables were laid in the 1850's.
The very first copper cable was laid between England and France on 29th August 1850 by a small paddle-driven steam tug called the Goliath, an event that marked the start of the submarine cable industry. The Times reported: “The electric telegraph appears to us more like a miracle than any scientific discovery or mechanical achievement of our time”. Unfortunately by the following morning, the cable was no longer working. The return to port of a French fisherman bearing a new variety of “gold-centred seaweed’’ (having mistaken copper cable for gold) appeared to explain the failure.
The use of submarine cables for the world's communication networks has grown rapidly, and now more than 95% of our data and voice communication now travels through nearly a million miles of cables, crossing every stretch of water. The communications that are enabled by submarine telecommunications technology - namely the internet and the World Wide Web, as well as plain old telephone calls - are fundamental to both social connections and business operations.
The global cable networks are a vital component to the world's financial, political and social makeup, and it has been the job of Global Marine Systems to install, maintain and repair those crucial networks for more than 160 years now. The threat to submarine cables has not changed significantly since that first “gold-centred seaweed” incident. The vast majority of cable faults are caused by ‘external aggression’, and 80% of external aggression faults result from fishing and shipping activities.
Most of the remainder of cable faults are caused by natural forces such as earthquakes, waves and sea currents. One example of this was the Hengchun Earthquake and subsequent submarine landslide that occurred on 26 December 2006. The landslide and resultant turbidity current travelled over 330km and broke nine submarine cables. Damage was located in water depths up to 4000m and while mission critical internet connections, through the ability of cable owners to re-route traffic, were largely reinstated within 24 hours, cable repair work involved 11 ships and took 49 days to fully complete.
Telecommunication networks are simply too important to fail, so their design architecture is robust and diverse, with a strong level of resiliency built into all cables, regardless of whether their owners are competitors. If a cable is damaged, traffic is seamlessly redirected onto an alternative route. As a result, international banking systems continue to function, social networks remain intact. Even in the Hengchun Earthquake incident, re-routing of mission critical information occurred within hours so that banks, airlines and online commerce in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and the Philippines could function again. Cable owners recognize the importance of working together to ensure continuity of communications around the world.
Crucial to continuity of communications are the service agreements that cable owners have implemented with cable ship operators, who strategically position vessels around the world for immediate mobilization, and Global Marine is one of the main companies that provide such ongoing support.
Read more about this topic: Global Marine Systems
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