Aboard an Alcatel-Lucent undersea cable ship

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    The Ile de Batz is one of three dedicated ships that Alcatel-Lucent uses to lay the submarine fiber-optic cables that carry broadband connectivity across the oceans.

    The ship is usually based in Calais, France, but made a stop recently in Greenwich, England, to pick up components from Alcatel-Lucent's factory. The telecommunications infrastructure company invited ZDNet Asia's sister site ZDNet UK to see the factory and the ship, and have a look at a vital part of the global Internet that's normally hidden by miles of water.

    The Ile de Batz usually spends between 30 and 40 days at sea on each voyage. It can lay up to 200 kilometers (120 miles) of cable per day, in normal conditions, to a depth of about 8km. That cable and its components are expected to have a lifespan of about 25 years.

    Photo and caption by David Meyer

    Caption by: David Meyer

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    Here, a member of the ship's crew shows off the various thicknesses of cable that are deployed from the Ile de Batz.

    The different sizes are used at different depths, although surprisingly the larger diameters are used closer to the surface. The top example in this picture is the lightweight cable that Alcatel-Lucent uses in very deep oceans, where ships' anchors pose no threat. The shallower the waters, the more heavily-armored the cable needs to be, as depicted in this progression of thickness.

    If cut, the cable can be repaired--Alcatel-Lucent has more ships on standby around the world for this purpose--but each reconnection degrades the system gain of the cable. The system is designed with enough headroom to tolerate a certain number of repairs.

    Photo and caption by David Meyer

    Caption by: David Meyer

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    This is the cable-splicing machine used on board the Ile de Batz--one of the most delicate and precise pieces of equipment on a ship laden with very heavyweight gear.

    Photo and caption by David Meyer

    Caption by: David Meyer

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    This machine molds protective layers on to the cable. The ship acts as much as a factory and repair shop as a straightforward spooler-out of cable; each leg of a cable requires a lot of individual customization.

    Photo and caption by David Meyer

    Caption by: David Meyer

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    Here is one of the Ile de Batz's two main cable tanks, with a small amount of spare 17mm cable included for the benefit of those touring the ship.

    Each of the ship's two cable tanks can hold up to 5,500km, or 3,000 tons, of fiber-optic cable. There are also two spare tanks, each with a 250-ton capacity.

    Photo and caption by David Meyer

    Caption by: David Meyer

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    This is the linear cable engine used to feed cable from the tanks to the rear of the Ile de Batz, from where it descends to the briny depths.

    Photo and caption by David Meyer

    Caption by: David Meyer

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    This massive and surreal device is the Ile de Batz's plow, which is used to bury cable. The cable can be buried up to 3m under the sea bed, which happens in waters up to 1.5km deep. This is the limit of what those in the industry consider to be "shallow" waters--areas where fishing takes place, and cables need to be especially well-protected.

    Photo and caption by David Meyer

    Caption by: David Meyer

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    The Ile de Batz has all of the normal navigation and engine systems of any large vessel, but with the addition of specialist controls shown here. These are separate from those used for the main navigation and cable-laying functions of the Ile de Batz, and use precision sensors and computers to calculate the strength of the sea and the wind to exactly control the ship's movement during cable deployment.

    Photo and caption by David Meyer

    Caption by: David Meyer

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The Ile de Batz has all of the normal navigation and engine systems of any large vessel, but with the addition of specialist controls shown here. These are separate from those used for the main navigation and cable-laying functions of the Ile de Batz, and use precision sensors and computers to calculate the strength of the sea and the wind to exactly control the ship's movement during cable deployment.

Photo and caption by David Meyer

Caption by: David Meyer

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