The vessel Elektron is being mobilised to carry out emergency repair work on the southern Moyle Interconnector power cable in the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
This work is scheduled to begin on the May 6, 2017, with cable repair work carried out in two campaigns.
The first campaign will involve precise location of the cable fault by the vessel Elektron. This vessel will then de-trench and raise the cable to the surface to remove the faulty section. The remaining cable will be sealed and laid back on the seabed in the existing cable trench.
This work is due to be carried out between May 6-25, 2017.
Later in the year (probably in August), the vessel Nexans Skagerrak will return to the area to pick up the cut cable ends, splice in a new section of cable, lay down the repaired cable and re-bury it.
The Moyle Interconnector consists of four undersea cables running between Scotland and Northern Ireland. The first two cables were installed in 2002. Two new cables were laid across the North Channel as part of a repair during 2015.
Source: AWJ Marine