PEASEC’s Jonas Franken was interviewed by MIT Technology Review about the challenges and processes involved in repairing submarine cables. Subsea data cables have been in the

media spotlight since several maritime infrastructures were damaged in the Baltic Sea in recent times. In the interview, he explains how damage is localized and how cables are recovered and repaired. He emphasized that the greatest effort lies in the precise splicing of the optical fibres, much less in the localization or recovery.

Jonas also explains that the most frequent damage is caused by fishing and anchors. However, the reactions to the Baltic Sea damages paint a contradictory picture at first glance: While the large parts of the industry emphasizes that the global grid is sufficiently resilient, political actors warn of targeted attacks on critical maritime infrastructure. Jonas emphasized that redundancy is a key aspect to the physical network’s resilience, but not the only one. Political actors would be well advised to not only seek military surface and subsea surveillance, but also take a broader set of measures, including support of maintenance effort, funding of alternative routes, or well-suite critical infrastructure regulations.

The full interview can be read in the MIT Technology Review (German edition).

Subsea Data Cable Repairs: Jonas Franken Interviewed by MIT Tech Review

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