Atlantic Cable Repair and Maintenance Agreement by Bill Kolb
MD, USA, the Dependable is seen as providing coverage for the western portions of many of the transatlantic routes. Of course, while these four ports have been selected for their strategic location and coverage of the majority of the systems in the ACMA, the member companies are not limited to the services of any one ship. Each Maintenance Authority has the right to call upon any ship to undertake a repair. Which ship is ultimately selected is dependent on a number of variables that the MA analyzes before ultimately requesting one of the ships. Each of the ships is always under the control of the ship’s Master, but each ACMA member has the right to direct repair operations on their systems, if they desire. The flexibility that has been written into the ACMA Agreement sometimes comes as a surprise to those who are not familiar with the latest innovations that have become part and parcel of the ACMA. For example, if an MA wants to be completely involved in the repair, that is possible. The other extreme, where the MA leaves the entire repair in the hands of the Service Provider, is also possible. It is entirely up to the ACMA member to decide their level of involvement.
Since 1965, the Atlantic Cable Repair and Maintenance Agreement (ACMA) has been providing exceptional repair and maintenance services for the submarine cable systems of its member companies. The ACMA is able to offer such extraordinary service at a reasonable price because it operates as a not-for-profit arrangement. On 01 January, 2009, the latest of the ACMA Agreements (ACMA 2009) will come into being.
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Once again, the member companies have decided on a four cable-ship arrangement for service. France Telecom Marine’s CS Leon Thevenin is the grande dame of the fleet, having served the ACMA community the longest of any of the vessels. Based in Brest, France, the Leon Thevenin is well situated
to respond immediately to any cable fault on the eastern side of the Atlantic, and because of her experience, is often the first choice when a repair in that part of the world is needed. Also on the eastern side, Global Marine’s CS Wave Venture joins the ACMA this year, after several years servicing Global’s Guardian cable systems. From its base port in Portland, UK, the Wave Venture will respond, primarily to sites on the European side of the ocean. On the western side, in Willemstad, Curacao, will be Global Marine’s Pacific Guardian. The Guardian would most likely be the first choice when there is a fault in the Caribbean. Rounding out this “group of four“ is Tyco Telecommunication’s CS Tyco Dependable. From its port in Baltimore,
This same flexibility exists regarding assisting in the administration of the Agreement as well. For those who want to be actively involved, there is the possibility to volunteer for any number of functions. For those who do not have the time or inclination to be actively involved, there is no coercion to participate. Indeed, a look at the various ACMA parties shows that there are some companies that are actively involved in many activities and some that are not involved at all. Some companies prefer to simply consider the payment of their quarterly invoice to be the total involvement they have in the ACMA. The choice is the members to make. Both are totally acceptable. Each of the four cable ships that will service the ACMA 2009 cable systems is capable of repairing cables in any part of the ACMA area. As oceangoing vessels, they operate in all kinds of weather and in various sea states. Because of their large size and robust capability, some people wonder if