Protecting underwater cables from ship damage

Infoterra have recently launched AssetMonitor, a new submarine asset protection service aimed at helping to protect valuable underwater assets, such as electricity and telecoms cables and oil and gas pipelines, from accidental damage by caused by anchors and fishing activity.

The Channel Islands Electricity Grid (CIEG), a joint venture between Guernsey Electricity and Jersey Electricity, has become the first organisation to deploy the new service, and will use it to protect the two 90,000 volt submarine cables that supply power and fibre optic communications from France to Jersey and onwards to Guernsey.

Damage to undersea assets due to shipping is a significant global problem, resulting in interrupted services, expensive repairs and the uncertain availability of suitable repair vessels. Current trends show that incidences of submarine asset damage are likely to increase with the deployment of offshore wind farms and marine turbines.

Infoterra’s new web based AssetMonitor solution uses live shipping vessel positions and data from the shipboard Automatic Identification System (AIS) broadcast system in conjunction with Route Position Lists for undersea assets to generate automatic warnings if an asset may be at risk due to shipping activity. It also allows the customer to define protection zones around its cables or pipelines and configure rules based upon AIS data to identify vessels that may be a hazard. Email and SMS messages can then be triggered, depending upon the severity of the event.

‘The decision to implement the AssetMonitor system makes business sense to the CIEG. One of our key objectives is to provide greater security for the critical infrastructure of the Channel Islands and we believe that this system will help us achieve this’, said Sally-Ann David, director of the Channel Islands Electricity Grid.

Dave Curry, Infoterra’s product development manager for AssetMonitor added, ‘Repairs to damaged submarine assets are always expensive, not just for insurance companies but also in terms of the broader economic implications when a critical service is interrupted. That’s why the primary aim of AssetMonitor is to prevent expensive submarine damage incidents by giving vessels plenty of warning if they are slowing down or anchoring in a protected submarine area. We believe if just a single incidence of undersea damage can be avoided, then AssetMonitor will have paid for itself many times over.’