Interesting https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-trans-arctic-cable-poses-new-challenges-for-subsea-operators-9fdaffe6?mod=djemCIO
A joint venture of Alaskan, Finnish and Japanese telecommunications carriers has contracted Alcatel Submarine Networks to lay a cable that will go west from Europe, through the Northwest Passage in Canada, and land in Japan—a new route enabled in part by the region’s melting due to climate change.
Construction, which could begin as early as 2024, will come with a unique set of challenges.
The exact scope of requirements for new types of sea plows and polar bear avoidance on the new trans-Arctic route are still being determined, Mr. Gabla said. He said that after a marine route survey—expected to begin this summer—the company would have a better idea of exactly what it’s up against.
But beyond those challenges, laying the Arctic cable will be a more or less straightforward process, Mr. Gabla said. In every undersea cable project, specialized ships unspool cable as they progress across the planned route. In shallower waters, typically less than 1,000 meters deep, where cables run the risk of damage from the gear of a passing fishing trawler or other hazards, a sea plow buries the cable, he said. Today’s cable systems are designed to last roughly 25 years.