Protecting undersea internet cables is a tech nightmare

Post by d3VwsX » Sat, Dec 07, 2024, 10:09 PM UTC

mrandish wrote: post #79

gruez wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The fact this Chinese ship was chased down and stopped before getting too far away was actually pretty lucky. Were they actually stopped? The linked Reuters article only says: "The ship now sits idle in international waters but inside Denmark's exclusive economic zone, closely watched by Danish military vessels." which makes it sound like it stopped of its own accord. It's also uncertain what, if anything Denmark or…

> Were they actually stopped? I think the broad, practical answer to that is 'almost certainly'. I'm pretty sure if warships hadn't shown up and asked to come over and have a chat, the ship wouldn't still be sitting there. There's also probably a very technical legal answer which may indicate they weren't "stopped" at all based on the precise wording actually communicated and relevant maritime law. Interestingly, a l…

Post by the_af » Sat, Dec 07, 2024, 10:50 PM UTC

jpcom wrote: post #44

the_af wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vandalism of public phones (when they existed) was pretty common in my city. And garbage bins in public spaces get destroyed all the time for no reason. Everything that isn't nailed down and very robust gets destroyed or stolen. Infrastructure things related to water pipes (at the buildings level) gets stolen, too (happened in my building recently). Everything that can be resold as raw materials gets stolen.

Does your city have those scooters that people ride without helmets at great speeds?

Post by alsodumb » Sat, Dec 07, 2024, 11:16 PM UTC

Animats wrote: post #73

Cables can be buried in trenches in the ocean bottom. There are cable plows for this. [1] They're huge and slow. Undersea power cables are routinely buried, but comm cables are only buried near shore. The downside of cable burial is that repair is harder. [1] https://www.smd.co.uk/category/trenching/

Post by immibis » Sat, Dec 07, 2024, 11:29 PM UTC

Etheryte wrote: post #25

logicchains wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe a stupid question, but is it possible to run a power cable next to the internet cables, so any ship dragging its anchor over the cables gets a rude surprise? Or that wouldn't work underwater?

That wouldn't do anything, you'd just be sending it straight to ground.

Post by kortilla » Sat, Dec 07, 2024, 11:37 PM UTC

logicchains wrote: post #21

anttihaapala wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you consider an underwater cable running from Finland to Germany or Sweden to Lithuania in the Baltic Sea, it is virtually impossible for a ship travelling from St. Petersburg to the Kattegat to avoid passing over it, so redundancy can do only that much there.

Maybe a stupid question, but is it possible to run a power cable next to the internet cables, so any ship dragging its anchor over the cables gets a rude surprise? Or that wouldn't work underwater?