Re: Sicily to Egypt undersea cable disruption

["Martin Hannigan" <hannigan () gmail com>]

On Jan 31, 2008 2:08 AM, Paul Ferguson <fergdawg () netzero net> wrote:
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> - -- "Martin Hannigan" <hannigan () gmail com> wrote:
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> > In the Med/IO cable case, a ship dropped an anchor on the cable,
> > something that is 1:1,000,000 shot, but happens. [...]
>
> Isn't that exactly what happened with the Pakistan fiber in 2005
> with SEAMEWE-3? :-)

The 1:1,000,000 was without a reference so it was fugurative. Mea
Culpa. If you count the amount of cables and the anchor drop cuts,
it's probably much less as an afterthought.

> From what I read about this cut, the way it happened seemed to have
figurative odds of 1:1,000,000. It looks like "authorities" moved the
anchorage area for some undefined reason. Cables are documented on
marine charts and, at least theoretically under international
standards, Captains and Pilots are lawfully required to refer to them
before dropping the hook. Having some experience in marine operations,
it would be 'curious' for a Captain or Pilot to not notice that there
was a cable marking so close to their re-designated anchorage based on
the chart that they would  need to  refer to for low tide depths and
other (un)common hazards to insure that they weren't in imminent
danger.

I'm sure that there is more to this story than meets the eye.

-M<