Displaying items by tag: HiTech

10th December 2019

Hi-Tech Sea Cables State 'Must Protect'

LÉ Samuel Beckett departs Naval Base in Cork Harbour on patrol duties

A naval officer says it is high time that the State defends its critical national infrastructure by protecting the transatlantic cables that pass through Irish waters.

As the Irish Examiner reports, Lieutenant Shane Mulcahy, attached to the Naval Operations Command Centre, said Ireland needs to address the “vulnerabilities” of its undersea cable network, given how dependent our digital economy is on them. He said that around three-quarters of transatlantic cables in the northern hemisphere pass through or near Irish waters, the majority of them along a corridor less than 160km wide.

Lt Mulcahy said these cables are vulnerable to natural hazards, fishing anchors, and more hostile acts, including attack by intelligence or military agencies. He said the cables carry 97% of global data transmissions, with modern satellites accounting for just 3%.

Competitions

The most significant events for the Half Ton Class has been the annual Half Ton Cup which was sailed under the IOR rules until 1993. More recently this has been replaced with the Half Ton Classics Cup. The venue of the event moved from continent to continent with over-representation on French or British ports. In later years the event is held biennially. Initially, it was proposed to hold events in Ireland, Britain and France by rotation. However, it was the Belgians who took the ball and ran with it. The Class is now managed from Belgium.