HOBART – Problems with locating the fault in Tasmania’s Basslink undersea power cable (CDN, Feb. 2) mean repairs will delayed and the cable could be out of action for longer than expected, Basslink has revealed. It had previously been expected to be fixed in March.The delay also means that TPG’s PPC 1 undersea cable – which connects Australia to Papua New Guinea and Guam – also will be out of action for longer than expected. That’s because Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks’ specialist vessel Ile de Re has been booked to repair both cables, and is currently stuck with Basslink.
Basslink said it is proving far more difficult than expected to narrow down the fault area and more testing is required – which “will take time, despite Basslink running a 24-hour repair operation.”
Even when the fault is found, new problems will arise for Tasmania as the repair program requires that the accompanying fibre-optic telcoms cable will also have to be cut.
Only when that is done, the repair made and the twin cables relaid can the Ile de Re move to the fault in the TPG cable. In the meantime Tasmania is experiencing extended power shortages – with potential data delivery problems still to come.
