Survey for second submarine cable completed |03 March 2020
The EGS explorer ‘Geo Resolution’ (Photo: Louis Toussaint)
The survey for the second submarine cable has been completed, the data will be analysed and the route engineered to start manufacturing the cable.
Benjamin Choppy, the principal secretary in the department of information communication and technology (DICT), along with representative from the Seychelles Cable System Company Limited visited the EGS explorer ‘Geo Resolution’ a specialised marine survey company boat which is conducting a survey on the new PEACE Cable International Network that will soon install the second submarine cable in Seychelles.
The visit was also a chance for PS Choppy to discuss with the board representative, Fabien Germond, who is overseeing the survey on Seychelles’ behalf.
The Seychelles Cable Systems Co. Ltd (SCS) signed the contract with Huawei Marine Networks (HMN) for the construction of a branch on the PEACE system to connect the Seychelles in September 2018. An integral part of this process is the undertaking of the marine survey to establish the exact route that the cable will take to its landing point – the Persévérance beach.
“The reason we have visited the ship today is to meet with our representative on board the ship who has been supervising the survey being conducted for the past weeks,” said PS Choppy.
Mr Germond boarded the ship in Mombasa when the boat was conducting the survey in Kenya and has stayed on board for the last leg of the survey which is here in Seychelles.
He further explained that PEACE is a system that will travel all the way from Pakistan, Europe, Asia and France, and Seychelles is part of that system.
The government will not bear any cost towards the project as the fee will be covered by the company who installed the first cable that went from Beau Vallon to Tanzania, noted Mr Choppy.
He further added that this project was done by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) which is a company that was created to connect Seychelles and maintain the connection. The SPV is made up of the government, Cable & Wireless and Airtel.
“The project will cost a total of US $20 million and is expected to reach the country by mid-2021,” said PS Choppy.
He noted that the survey is necessary so as to get the exact condition of the area it will be placed in order to design the cable and placement.
“We are waiting for the finalised version of the survey but so far there are no major issues that will halt the project,” said the principal secretary.
Mr Choppy added that "this time, by joining PEACE, Seychelles will not only be linked to Africa and Asia but also directly to Europe, which is very beneficial. It is good for us and it is also good for the PEACE cable initiative. It is a win-win situation for us all.”
He further noted that in case of an accident with the first cable, the second cable will provide an alternative route.
On his part, Didik Rusmanto, Multi-v bv cq2beam processor analyst for the survey, briefed the press on the work that the 34 crew members have been doing during the past weeks.
“We want to know the precise length and situation on the sea bottom where the cable will be laid,” he said.
“Once we get the exact profile of the sea bottom we will know the precise length of the cable. So every part of the cable will be measured according to the area it will pass,” said Mr Rusmanto.
Huawei representative, Meng Fanshuo, noted that now that the survey has been completed they will analyse the data and engineer the route it will take, then start manufacturing the cable.
The accompanying photographs taken by our photographer Louis Toussaint show PS Choppy and his team while being guided on a tour of the survey ship.
Christophe Zialor
