AQUA COMMS
THE ROCKET SCIENCE OF LAYING SUBSEA CABLES
Laying a cable under the sea may not sound like rocket science , but according to Nigel Bayliff CEO Aqua Comms , it ' s not a million miles away .
For a start more people have walked on the Moon than explored the depths of the oceans on Earth and when you ’ re laying fibre-optic cables to last 25 + years the engineering has to be precise .
“ We are putting high-grade electronics – the equivalent of electronics that go into a space mission – at the bottom of the ocean , which is a place less visited than men who have walked on the moon ,” said Bayliff .
“ Space and the sea have the same engineering challenge as it is not easy to repair . The cables have to survive in a harsh environment at the bottom of the sea . Our equipment is certified for 8,000m of water . That ' s an enormous pressure . It ' s 83 megapascals of pressure . It ' s so pressurised it breaks water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen and the tiny hydrogen atoms push through the metal of the undersea equipment which creates a hydrogen contamination of things .
“ The interesting thing is copper provides a good shield for hydrogen penetration . This is because it ' s got a dense lattice structure so the engineering is the same as it would be to keep somebody alive in a space capsule .”
As Aqua Comms continues its work on the new cable from Europe to India the construction company responsible have already surveyed the seabed of the Mediterranean , Red Sea and Indian Ocean
– a major project like this could take five years from inception to readiness .
“ There is very little known about some of the seabed which is why we survey it with sonar techniques so we can view its shape and look for shipwrecks as well as other obstructions such as large boulders or faults in the sea bed .”
As Bayliff reflected on how Aqua Comms ’ second cable from Copenhagen to New Jersey passes the wreck of RMS Titanic he is reminded how the film director James Cameron – famed for his movie about the ill-fated ship – is one of very few to descend the Mariana Trench , in the Pacific Ocean , to a depth of 10,898 metres . “ We have so much more to learn about the oceans ,” said Bayliff who never loses his enthusiasm for using cables to connect the world .
“ Aqua Comms and Ontix may seem like completely opposite kinds of businesses but , in many ways , we are the same – we both deal in invisible infrastructure ”
NIGEL BAYLIFF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER , AQUA COMMS datacentremagazine . com 193