Displaying items by tag: Subsea

17th January 2018

Transatlantic Cable from New Jersey, Funded by Facebook & Google, to Come Ashore in Clew Bay

A map showing the planned HAVFRUE network

Fugro, a Dutch geotechnical, survey, subsea, and geoscience services provider, will be carrying out marine operations on behalf of TE Subsea Communications LLC (TESubCom) for the HAVFRUE Subsea Cable System Project. The project is scheduled to begin on Saturday 20th January 2018 and last for approximately 14 days (weather permitting).

Havfrue (Norwegian for Mermaid) is the brand name for the wider cable system, of which Aqua Comms will own and operate a large proportion. It is the first subsea cable system to connect Northern Europe and the US in almost twenty years. The project was commissioned by a consortium of companies that includes Bulk Infrastructure, Facebook and Google.

photo fugro 63989 The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has been advised that Fugro (pictured above) will be carrying out marine operations on behalf of TE Subsea Communications LLC for the HAVFRUE Subsea Cable System Project

Irish Submarine cable supplier and operator Aqua Comms has joined forces with TESubCom, a company specializing in fiber optic cable deployments and marine services, to prepare the groundwork for a transatlantic cable network connecting New Jersey in the US with Ireland and Denmark. At present, Aqua Comms operates Ireland’s first dedicated subsea fibre-optic network connecting New York, London and Dublin.

Aqua Comms will also market and sell capacity services on its portion of the Havfrue cable system under the brand name America Europe Connect-2 (AEC-2) as complementary to its existing transatlantic cable, America Europe Connect-1 (AEC-1), running between New York and Killala in Co Mayo. The AEC-2 cable system will complete a ring-based network connecting the US, Ireland, the UK and Denmark.

Whereas the AEC-1 cable comes ashore in Killala, Co. Mayo, the AEC-2 cable loks like it is set to come ashore in Westport Co. Mayo, which lies on Clew Bay.

cable google The AEC-2 Cable run into Clew Bay, Co. Mayo Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

This system is due to come online in the fourth quarter of 2019. TESubCom has already launched the cable route survey operations.

The network will connect Dublin to Manchester and the North Sea Connect cable linking Stellium-operated data centre in Newcastle, England to Esbjerg in Denmark, creating a circular network connecting each of the above mentioned locations to one another.

Survey operations for the link to Ireland will be conducted on a 24 hour basis. Throughout survey operations the vessel will be displaying the shapes and lights prescribed in the International Rules for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea (COLREGS) Rule 27, to indicate that the survey vessel is restricted in its ability to manoeuvre.
The vessel that will undertake the project is the MV Fugro Discovery (Callsign: 3EKE6). A listening watch will be maintained on VHF Channel 16, and the vessel will actively transmit an AIS signal.

Published in News Update

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Hibernia Express Subsea Cable Set To Make Cork A Global Internet Hub

#Subsea - The Irish Times has more details on the new transatlantic subsea internet cable Hibernia Express, work on which got underway this past March.

Clearance and pre-laying work continued this month in the Celtic Sea to prepare for the arrival of the 4,600km fibre optic cable in Cork Harbour in the coming weeks.

Once connected to the new Cork Internet Exchange (CIX), it will be the first modern telecommunications cable of its kind to link North America and Europe in well over a decade.

And its speed and capacity – offering the lowest latency between New York and London – will be a boon for businesses that depend on the fastest possible and most robust data connections.

Combined with the shorter Ireland-France Subsea Cable, it's also set to make Cork a leading global internet switching centre, eliminating the need for Ireland's internet traffic to go through the UK before the rest of the world, as TechCentral reports.

Published in Cork Harbour

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Hibernia Express Subsea Cable Clearance Work Continues In Celtic Sea

#HiberniaExpress - The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport advises that TE SubCom, on behalf of Hibernia Express, is carrying out a route clearance operation and a pre-lay grapnel run along the Hibernia Express cable route using the M/V Ile d’Aix (Callsign FICI) and M/V Atlantic Guardian (Callsign HO6566.

The operations, which follow earlier work on the same subsea cable route in March, commenced on 17 and 13 May 2015 respectively are expected to last until the end of June 2015, weather permitting.

The vessels will be towing grapnels astern at a distance depending on water depth, and as such, will be restricted in their ability to manoeuvre.

All vessels are requested to give these operation a wide berth. The project vessels will be listening on VHF Channel 16 throughout the project.

Details of co-ordinates for both vessels' work areas are included in Marine Notices Nos 18 and 19 of 2015, available to read or download HERE and HERE.

Published in Marine Warning

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Ireland & La Solitaire du Figaro

The Solitaire du Figaro, was originally called the course de l’Aurore until 1980, was created in 1970 by Jean-Louis Guillemard and Jean-Michel Barrault.

Half a decade later, the race has created some of France's top offshore sailors, and it celebrated its 50th anniversary with a new boat equipped with foils and almost 50 skippers Including novices, aficionados and six former winners.

The solo multi-stage offshore sailing race is one of the most cherished races in French sailing and one that has had Irish interest stretching back over 20 years due to the number of Irish stopovers, usually the only foreign leg of the French race.

What Irish ports have hosted The Solitaire du Figaro?

The race has previously called to Ireland to the following ports; Dingle, Kinsale, Crosshaven, Howth and Dun Laoghaire.

What Irish sailors have raced The Solitaire du Figaro?

So far there have been seven Irish skippers to participate in La Solitaire du Figaro.

In 1997, County Kerry's Damian Foxall first tackled the Figaro from Ireland. His win in the Rookie division in DHL gave him the budget to compete again the following year with Barlo Plastics where he won the final leg of the race from Gijon to Concarneau. That same year a second Irish sailor Marcus Hutchinson sailing Bergamotte completed the course in 26th place and third Rookie.

In 2000, Hutchinson of Howth Yacht Club completed the course again with IMPACT, again finishing in the twenties.

In 2006, Paul O’Riain became the third Irish skipper to complete the course.

In 2013, Royal Cork's David Kenefick raised the bar by becoming a top rookie sailor in the race.

In 2018, for the first time, Ireland had two Irish boats in the offshore race thanks to Tom Dolan and Joan Mulloy who joined the rookie ranks and kept the Irish tricolour flying high in France. Mulloy became the first Irish female to take on the race.

Tom Dolan in Smurfit Kappa competed for his third year in 2020 after a 25th place finish in 2019. Dolan sailed a remarkably consistent series in 2020 and took fifth overall, the best finish by a non-French skipper since 1997 when Switzerland’s Dominique Wavre finished runner up. Dolan wins the VIVI Trophy.

Dolan finished 10th on the first stage, 11th on the second and seventh into Saint Nazaire at the end of the third stage. Stage four was abandoned due to lack of wind.

Also in 2020, Dun Laoghaire’s Kenneth Rumball became the eleventh Irish sailor to sail the Figaro.

At A Glance – Figaro Race

It starts in June or July from a French port.
The race is split into four stages varying from year to year, from the length of the French coast and making up a total of around 1,500 to 2,000 nautical miles (1,700 to 2,300 mi; 2,800 to 3,700 km) on average.
Over the years the race has lasted between 10 and 13 days at sea.
The competitor is alone in the boat, participation is mixed.
Since 1990, all boats are of one design.