Group's cable-laying ships

Due to the expansion of business and social networks, downloading and data exchanges (videos, photos, etc.), the volume of information passing through the network is growing exponentially. In order to enable people to communicate across borders and seas, it is necessary to install submarine cables that carry nearly all international communications. Global economies are so heavily dependent on data transmission that the functioning of these cables needs to be guaranteed in order to deliver maximum capacity and speed of transmission. Thanks to fibre optic submarine cables, around 2 million videos can share bandwidth at the same time.

Fibre optic submarine cables span the globe with nearly 800,000 km of infrastructure on the ocean floor, enough to stretch around the world more than 20 times.

France Telecom Marine
A wholly-owned subsidiary of France Telecom since 2000, France Telecom Marine is a major player in the laying and maintenance of fibre optic submarine cables. Its fleet is one of the world’s most experimented. The company is active in all areas of maintenance and laying of submarine cables, including the study (survey) and the shore ends.
 
France Telecom Marine took control of Elettra (previously owned by Telecom Italia) on October the 1rst, 2010. The subsidiary is now operating 6 cable ships, 15% of the world fleet, shipping from its marine bases or foreign harbours : cable ship Raymond Croze based in la Seyne-sur-Mer and operating the repairs on cables in Mediterranean sea, Black sea and Red sea, cable ship Leon Thevenin based in Brest and operating the repairs in the Atlantic zone and in Nothern Europe, cable ship Chamarel based in Cape Town (South Africa) and operating in the Southern Hemisphere, cable ship Rene Descartes dedicated to installation of submarine cables and operating at worldwide range, cable ship Certamen working with the Raymond Croze on cable maintenance in Mediterranean sea, Black sea and Red sea, cable ship Teliri operating laying operations, mainly around the Mediterranean Basin.

laying and maintenance operations
France Telecom Marine lays new submarine cables and repairs broken links; traffic is meanwhile re-routed to ensure continuity. The France Telecom Marine and Elettra fleets conduct an average of 40 operations per year. The repair operations last for about six to ten days, depending on the duration of the transit time to the work zone. Each ship operates an average of 12 to 15 repairs a year.

In total, it is more than 150,000 kilometres of submarine cables in all oceans, 15,000 of which were buried with ploughs. Cable ships have carried out more than 300 repairs, some of which at a depth of 8,500 metres over the last ten years. France Telecom Marine has already completed, among others, the laying and maintenance of cables in West Africa in Senegal, Cameroon, Benin, Angola, Nigeria and South Africa, as well as in East Africa, Reunion Island, Madagascar and Mauritius. Cable ship Chamarel (previously called Vercors) has laid on her own 120 000 km of cable, the equivalent of three times around the Earth, a worldwide record!

To protect, inspect and also repair damaged intercontinental links, France Telecom Marine designs, manufactures and operates, through its SIMEC subsidiary, submarine machines (robots and ploughs) used for maintenance and cable-laying assignments.

France Telecom Marine teams
France Telecom Marine cable ships teams are acknowledged for their high skills in jointing. The crew and the mission on duty are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in order to be ready to set sail in less than a day and travel to a faulty cable repair site. The cable ships are able to conduct operations in difficult weather conditions. Each ship embarks a 50 person crew, including 20 officers and mates. Concerning the mission staff, there are about 12 technicians: telecom technicians, jointers, submarine engines pilots.

expertise and quality of service
The cable detection, laying and maintenance equipment available onboard features the very latest technology. The Hector ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) is remotely controlled from the ship via its umbilical cable and can lift the cable, hold it and cut it using articulated arms. Elodie, the plough, is used to bury the cable at significant depths. The computer equipment for measuring and monitoring the cable network allows cables to be quickly laid and repaired with extreme precision, while also guaranteeing a maximum level of safety.

France Telecom Marine's sites (headquarters, cable ships and marine bases) are certified ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. These standards cover the quality of service offered to customers and the protection of the environment. France Telecom Marine and its cable ships are also certified as compliant with the ISM code (International Safety Management), the international maritime code.


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maintenance of submarine cables, a broken cable... red alert