FEATURE EVOLVING SUBSEA TECHNOLOGIES IMPACTING SUBMARINE CABLES A VERY BRIEF LOOK BY STEPHEN NIELSEN
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ithin the Submarine Cable Industry, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the first significant technology that comes to mind is the cable. Heck, it’s in the name. Lower latency, higher fibre pairs, zero attenuation: these are the technology dreams of the industry. But what about all the other subsea technologies that are groundbreaking and going into implementation all over the world? Companies in many fields are developing new technologies that are currently or will have significant influence over the future of the Submarine Cable Industry and all subsea industries. SEA-KIT International’s Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV ) Maxlimer was recently used to complete an initial survey of Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha’apai, a submarine volcano in the South Pacific. In other areas, cable segments from Tampnet are being used as part of a seismic monitoring system, assisting in early earthquake warnings. “The market for subsea technologies appears to be expanding, and that growth is expected to continue in the
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next 5 years,” said a representative of Makai Ocean Engineering. “We believe there will be significant emphasis in automation and clean energy within the coming years.” To learn more about the current climate and expected development of this alternative side of the industry, Submarine Technologies Forum reached out to companies spearheading these developments to get a more personal take on where the industry and technology is, and where it’s going. For this article, we heard from Tampnet and Makai Ocean Engineering. We asked a batch of questions regarding their company, and where they believe the industry is heading. Tampnet is a company founded in 2001 in Stavanger, Norway, according to the company website. It runs “the world’s largest offshore high capacity communication network in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, serving customers within oil & gas, wind energy, maritime and carrier sectors with first class telecommunications.” Alternately, Makai Ocean Engineering (Makai) is a technology company founded in 1973 on the Makai Research