Following unfavourable weather conditions and several delays in the departure of the cable repair vessel Ile De Re from Geelong, the vessel has arrived at the fault location of the Basslink cable on Friday.
Basslink, a subsea cable connecting George Town in Tasmania and Loy Yang in Victoria, experienced a fault on December 20, 2015, approximately 100 km off the Tasmanian coastline in Bass Strait.
After the arrival at the fault location, the vessel spent the first two days completing work to assist in laying the cable bight.
According to Basslink’s latest update, it is expected that splicing will start for the first of two joints on Tuesday once the weather conditions improve and there is a clear weather window in which to carry out the works.
More than 20 days have been lost to weather since the first joint was completed , the company informed.
“Given the repair has around 20 days of marine-based work remaining which will be directly affected by any changes in weather conditions, Basslink needs to allow for additional contingency in the timeline for the cable’s return to service. As a result, Basslink has advised Hydro Tasmania and the Tasmanian Government that the anticipated return to service date is now late June,” Basslink said in a statement.