How Is The Submarine Cable Laid?

After entering the Internet era, each of us can enjoy the convenience of communication. However, in the modern age when satellite communication has not yet become popular, what we want to contact people on the other side of the ocean and ask for through is the submarine cable hidden in the depths of the ocean. From Europe to the Americas, from the Americas to Asia, it can be said that there are submarine cables everywhere on the seabed of the world. Of course, we have now entered the era of submarine optical cables.
 

We know that the marine environment is very complex, and it is very difficult to lay submarine cables across the ocean. How are submarine cables and submarine optical cables that play an important role in the world's communications?
 

The world's first submarine optical cable was laid in 1988, connecting Europe and the Americas across the Atlantic Ocean. Up to now, the total length of submarine optical cables has reached 900,000 kilometers, which is equivalent to 22 circles around the equator. These submarine optical cables undertake 90% of the world's current transnational data transmission tasks.
 

First of all, the strength of the submarine optical cable is very high. The submarine optical cable is not like the optical fiber in our home. It has taken into account the high pressure and high corrosion environment of the submarine from the beginning of its design. The submarine optical cable has three layers and three layers, and the middle is the optical fiber the size of a hair. These protective layers include polyethylene, asphalt and polyester resins, steel strands, waterproof layers, paraffin layers, etc., to maximize the safety of optical fibers on the seabed.
 

However, even under such high-strength protection, the service life of submarine cables is only 25 years. The deeper the seabed, the higher the safety of the submarine cable, but the need for stronger protection in the shallow sea, because human economic activities are likely to cause accidental damage to the cable. Today, there are three submarine optical cable landing points in our mainland, namely Qingdao, Shanghai and Shantou.
 

The laying of submarine cables is one of the most difficult engineering projects in the world. When laying, the special optical cable laying ship will use the tractor on the shore to pull the optical cable. At this time, the optical cable floats on the sea surface through the floating bag. When it reaches the proper position, the floating bag will be removed to let the dunk sink. into the seabed. This is in a shallow sea environment. In the deep sea, it is necessary to use more advanced underwater remote control robots to help the submarine optical cable avoid obstacles, and then dig a trench through a special submarine excavator to bury the optical cable.
 

If the submarine optical cable is broken, it is also necessary to use the underwater robot to scan to find the position of the damaged optical cable, and then pull the damaged optical cable out of the sea. After the repair task is completed on the ship, the optical cable is put into the sea and the robot is used to restore it to its original state.