Subsea fibre optic cable deliberately cut for the 2nd time between N.S. and N.L.
Telecommunications giant Bell is currently investigating surveillance options in the Gulf of St. Lawrence after one of its subsea fibre optic cables between Cape Breton Island and Newfoundland’s west coast was recently severed for the second time.
David Joice, the company’s director of networks, revealed that it is believed an anchor or a piece of equipment, such as a trawling net, caught the cable on December 24. The cable was then brought to the surface along with the gear and deliberately cut by an unknown individual.
“The telltale sign that we have is that there’s almost like a cut, or like an angle grinder cut, through the cable,” Joice explained in an interview with CBC Radio’s Information Morning Cape Breton. “That’s a pretty tough thing to do because … it’s just not like a fibre optic cable that you’d see on the poles or going to your home, but it’s actually wrapped in steel. So it takes a lot of effort to actually cut.”
This 140-kilometre cable, which runs from Dingwall, N.S., to Codroy, N.L., also experienced a similar incident in December 2023. The motives behind both cable cuttings remain a mystery.
Now that the cable has been repaired, Bell is taking measures to prevent future tampering, including burying the line in the sea floor. The company is also contemplating using satellite imagery to monitor the area. In the meantime, Bell is cooperating with the RCMP in their investigation.
The cable serves as a crucial network path to Newfoundland and Labrador. While awaiting repairs, Bell’s team reconfigured the network to ensure no impact on customers, according to Patricia Garcia, a communications manager for Bell.
Repairing the cable proved to be a painstaking process. A repair ship was dispatched from Halifax over the past week to fix the cable. The vessel, known as the IT Intrepid, employs a rover to locate and retrieve the cable before passing it to a crane. Approximately 60 individuals work tirelessly around the clock to complete the repair.
Garcia noted that there are few ships in North America equipped to handle specialized subsea cable repairs. She added that securing a ship for this type of work can take months, and the process is weather-dependent, requiring moderate and temperate conditions.
Although Joice emphasized that intentional damage to cables is rare, it is not unprecedented. Just a day after Bell’s cable was cut, an underwater power cable in the Baltic Sea, near the mouth of the Gulf of Finland, was suspiciously severed along with four internet cables. Suspicions at the time pointed to ships associated with Russia. Estonia and Finland have since heightened patrols in the area, with support from NATO.
