Maersk mariner charged over Australia Singapore Cable cut
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has arrested and charged
the master of the cargo ship Maersk Surabaya over damage inflicted on a section
of a subsea telecommunications cable connecting Australia to Singapore.
The Australia Singapore Cable (ASC), operated by local telco
Vocus, is a fibre cable system that claims a capacity of up to 60Tbps and
stretches 4,600 kilometres between Perth and Singapore, with connections to
Christmas Island and Indonesia.
On Sunday 1 August 2021, a section of the subsea
communications cable in the Perth Submarine Cable Protection Zone,
approximately 10 kilometres offshore from Perth’s City Beach, was disabled
after being damaged.
The cable break impacted services passing into and out of
Perth, however services between Christmas Island, Jakarta and Singapore
remained operational.
Police claim the ship had been anchored approximately 500
metres from the protection zone, and allegedly dragged its anchor through the
area in high winds, snagging and damaging the 20-metre-deep cable.
The AFP said in a statement published on 21 August that the
step to charge the 59-year-old container ship master is believed to be the
first prosecution by the agency for the alleged offence.
The arrest came after the AFP received reports on 3 August
that a passing vessel had allegedly damaged the cable, causing approximately
$1.5 million damage.
A subsequent investigation by AFP officers in Western
Australia and Victoria resulted in the arrest of the cargo vessel master, who
is a Ukrainian national.
The mariner is alleged by the AFP to have engaged in
negligent conduct as the master of a maritime vessel, which resulted in damage
to the Australian Singapore Cable, contrary to section 37 of schedule 3A of the
Telecommunications Act 1997.
According to the AFP, the offence carries a potential
maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment and a $40,000 fine.
AFP detective superintendent Graeme Marshall said that
damage to a subsea cable can have serious financial consequences for both the
cable operator and for customers who experience reduced connectivity and data
access.
“The protection zone is clearly marked on maritime charts
and all vessel masters should ensure vessels operate in a manner which does not
interfere with critical communications infrastructure,” Marshall said.
Vocus, in partnership with marine repair partner SubCom,
moved quickly to repair the cable following the cut.
The telco's operations command centre, field technicians and
submarine cable maintenance partners were deployed to the Perth cable landing
station, where optical testing confirmed a break to the cable approximately 10
kilometres off the coast, at a water depth of 27 metres.
Vocus IP services and traffic were re-routed where possible
and remained operational as traffic destined for Asia was temporarily routed
through Australia’s east coast via Hong Kong and the United States, Vocus said.
SubCom’s repair vessel, the CS Reliance, was located nearby
off the coast of Perth, allowing it to be re-deployed to commence repairs to
the ASC, according to Vocus.
The CS Reliance began repairs on Thursday 5 August, four
days after the break occurred.
By Monday 9 August, four days after repairs began, the south
side of the break had been spliced, while a section of new cable was laid
toward the north end of the break.
According to Vocus, bad weather in the region slowed repairs
as the CS Reliance temporarily anchored for the safety of the crew, with
repairs recommencing on Wednesday 11 August.
The final splice reconnecting the north and south ends of
the cut section occurred on board the CS Reliance in the early hours of the
morning on Friday 13 August.
Vocus commenced testing of the cable soon after, and normal
services were restored on 13 August.
Just days ago, Vocus revealed it had landed a A$100 million
deal to build a submarine cable connection between the Northern Territory and
Southeast Asia.
The new 1,000km cable will link the Australia Singapore
Cable (ASC) to the North West Cable System (NWCS) in Port Hedland, Western
Australia, thereby providing the final piece of the Darwin-Jakarta-Singapore
Cable (DJSC).
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