Undersea cables and cable maintenance in the Mediterranean Sea

Contents FT Marine activity MECMA Agreement Submarine Cables in Med Sea Repair of a submarine cable Our means devoted to MECMA

A young subsidiary but more than a century of experience FT Marine activity A young subsidiary but more than a century of experience Since 1860 the Ministry of Posts and Telegraph, and its successors has been involved in the marine installation and the maintenance of submarine cables Since 2000 FT Marine a 100% owned subsidiary of France Telecom has been created. This subsidiary is in charge of The two marine bases of La Seyne and Brest, where the cable depot is located The three cable ships based in France and through a subsidiary of the cable ship based in CapeTown, South Africa The tools and vehicules on board these ships. Simec is a 100% owned subsidiary of FT Marine building and maintening these vehicules and tools A remote operated vehicule is installed on board a Singtel cable ship in Cochin, India FT Marine group has a turn over 36m€, with an MBO of 6.4m€ FT Marine staff is comprising of Ship Crew, Technical Teams on Board and in the bases, Support and Administration, the total staff is at the end of 2007 of 242

Telecom Italia Sparkle MECMA Agreement france telecom Telefonica PTC IAM Matelca PTT Algeria Tunitel Maltacom GPTC Libya OTE Albanian Telecom Telecom Italia Sparkle HT Westelecom Rom Telecom UKRTEC Rostelecom BTC Turk Telecom LMPT STE CYTA BEZEQ Telecom Egypt STID STC MED1 Vodafone ATT FLAG Partner INFN ENEL MedCable IN2P3 Association between the owners of submarine cables in Med, Black and Red Sea, in the aim to share the cost of maintenance of their systems => Reduction of maintenance costs per kms

MECMA Agreement      La Seyne / Mer Valencia Catania Kalamata MECMA Resources dedicated is: 1 Cable Ship FT Marine and 1 Cable Ship Elettra, both with ROV, ready to sail 365d/y 24h/d 2 main cable storage depots Submarine Cable Depot Cable Ship Base

Submarine Cables in Med Sea IN SERVICE CABLES 150 Systems 238 Segments 65 000 km of cables

Submarine Cables in Med Sea ALL CABLES (In & Out of Service) 500000 kms (estimation) of cables on the seabed 8 times more than In service cables length

Increase of faults mainly due to Submarine Cables in Med Sea History of Faults WHY ? Increase of faults mainly due to  Grow up of the Maritim Traffic  Fishing Activity remaining important on the south part of the Med Sea => In spite of the improvement of protection of submarine cables (Burial and berth forbidden areas)

60 % of repair operation between 0 and 500 m Location is concentrated Submarine Cables in Med Sea Distribution of Faults 60 % of repair operation between 0 and 500 m Number of Operations from 1995 WHERE ? Location is concentrated  within the shallow water  in the bays or straits close to intense maritim activity 4% 23% Water depth 32% 35% 6%

Fault reasons are mainly Submarine Cables in Med Sea Causes of Faults REASONS ? Fault reasons are mainly Human agressions (Fishing activity and anchoring) Shallow water shall be shared with intelligence by your cable and the other users. The deskstop study prior to the installation is important to know the environnement of your cable and will be crucial for the life of your system

Different types of repair MECMA Agreement Different types of repair MECMA Agreement Divers Shore End Shallow water works ROV Cutting/Gripping Survey/Inspection Post Repair Burial Repeater or BU repair Cable Repair Shunt Fault Optical fibers fault ISR Terminal Station 2 Terminal Station 1 BMH BMH -30 m -1000 m Branching Unit Repeater To Terminal Station 3

MECMA Agreement Outside work MECMA OFFERS THE POSSIBILITY TO USE THE CABLESHIP OUT OF THE SERVICE CONTRACT Use of the means of the Cable ship (Lay, ROV work, Deep Sea Work, Shallow water Work) Upon MECMA Maintenance Authorities agreement On an interruptible basis Within the MECMA geographic area

Repair of a submarine cable Fault Investigation HOW TO LOCATE A FAULT SHUNT FAULT Stations calculate the fault position using values of PFE OPTICAL LOSS Stations calculate the fault position using OTDR or COTDR HOW TO LOCATE A FAULT ON GROUND ROV SURVEY  Dive with ROV HECTOR 3 to find the accurate location of the fault if fault is in shallow water (0-1000m)  Use of TSS system (detector of cable and/or frequency) installed on the ROV ELECTRODING LOCATION  Terminal station inject a 25 Hz-tone in the segment  Detection by the CS of 25 Hz in the cable and lack of signal at the fault

Repair of a submarine cable Recovery of a submarine cable HOW TO RECOVER THE CABLE USE OF ROV  Gripping of cable with robotic arm and recovering on board by rope in the CS cable machine USE OF GRAPNEL  Use of a grapnel dragged out by the CS cable machine on the seabed in order to hook the cable

Repair of a submarine cable Jointing of cable A NEW CABLE SECTION IS INSERTED INSTEAD OF THE FAULTY ONE JOINTING BOX  When the segment is clear, we begin to joint one side to a new section of cable (from depot).  16 hours for a joint (excluding measure)

Repair of a submarine cable Lay of Final cable Bight A SECOND JOINT IS CARRIED OUT TO LINK THE SYSTEM TO THE NEW CABLE SECTION Final Bight  When the second joint is completed, the excess of cable length is deployed on the sea bed.  a V-shape will be spread on the seabottom. This bight will be a weak point of your system regarding external agression (trawling or anchoring) Burial of the repair operation TO PROTECT YOUR CABLE IN AN AREA WHERE IT IS EXPOSED TO AGRESSION ROV will be used to jet seawater and performed a trench along your cable. Average Speed : 200 m/h

Our means in MECMA Cable ships C/S Raymond Croze C/S René Descartes Length 102 m Draft 6.25 m Max Speed 15 knots Range 45 days Accomoda. 77 cabins Power 2 x 1420 kW shells + 1 BThrust + 1 AThrust Cable work 3 tanks / 2 Drum Cable Eng + 1 Linear CE C/S René Descartes Length 145 m Draft 7.40 m Max Speed 16 knots Range 45 days Accomoda. 75 cabins Power 2 x 4000 kW shells + 2 BThrust + 2 AThrust Cable work 4 tanks / 2 Drum Cable Eng + 1 Linear CE

Our means in MECMA ROV HECTOR 3 Power 225 kW Max Depth 1500 m / 1000 m (contract) Burial perf 1.5 m Burial speed 400 m/h on tracks Equipment Manipulator / Gripper / Cutter / HP and BP Jetting tools