By Thomas Pfeiffer and Ilya Khrennikov (Bloomberg) --Global warming has opened up Arctic passages to new shipping routes. Now the melting ice is handing an opportunity to other industries. Submarine data cables have become easier to lay in previously frozen regions, offering a shorter route for communications between the world’s major economic centers and giving a … [Read more...]
Orange’s Sea Cable Repair Fleet Looks Beyond Investment Boom
By Angelina Rascouet (Bloomberg) -- For decades, ships owned by French phone carrier Orange SA have traveled the world’s oceans, installing and fixing the undersea cables that carry internet traffic from one continent to another. The fleet of six run by Orange Marine is now looking to diversify, even with the biggest investment boom for the infrastructure since the 1990s. … [Read more...]
Opinion: China’s Targeting Underwater Internet Cables
By James Stavridis (Bloomberg Opinion) -- As the West considers the threat posed by China’s naval ambitions, there is a natural tendency to place overarching attention on the South China Sea. This is understandable: Consolidating it would provide Beijing with a huge windfall of oil and natural gas, and a potential chokehold over up to 40 percent of the world’s shipping. But … [Read more...]
Ship’s Anchor Suspected for Tonga’s Internet Blackout
By Tom Westbrook SYDNEY, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The South Pacific nation of Tonga has been all but cut off from the internet this week after an undersea cable connecting the archipelago to the wider world was severed twice on Sunday, throwing communications across the tiny and isolated country into chaos. The outage, which the cable's owner said may have been caused by a ship's … [Read more...]
Britain Says West Must Defend Undersea Cables from Russian Navy
LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Britain and its NATO allies must defend deep sea cables against a potentially catastrophic attack by the Russia navy that could disrupt trillions of dollars in financial transactions, the head of Britain's armed forces warned. The cables which crisscross the world's oceans and seas carry 95 percent of communications and over $10 trillion in daily … [Read more...]