Remotely operated vehicles evolution for maintenance and repair of fiber optic systems

As a result of extended usage of the ocean floor by a growing number of industries, communications companies are actively pursuing methods to prevent aggressive disruption to underwater fiber optic services. These protective disciplines include increased initial installation burial depths, and conducting route surveys and cable retroburial to prevent service interruptions due to fishing activity, anchor drags, and other human aggressions. As a result of both legislative requirements and the high revenue loss associated with service interruptions, a new and more powerful generation of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV), which includes both Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV), used for both survey and repairs has emerged. These UUVs have increased operational parameters and utilize state of the art electronic suites to enhance their capabilities. As more multinational corporations enter into the lucrative communications arena, they are entering into service provisioning contracts, as an alternative to purchasing cable maintenance ROVs and route specific use of AUVs for surveys. This paper addresses these elements of the evolving underwater cable system environment.