Hawaiki Submarine Cable and TE SubCom informed that the final preparations are underway for the start of the installation of the Hawaiki submarine cable in early October 2017.
According to the latest update, the 14,000 km of undersea fiber-optic cable that comprise the Hawaiki transpacific cable system are in the final stages of being loaded aboard TE SubCom’s cable laying vessels CS Global Sentinel and CS Responder.
“With the cable load process concluding on schedule, we will soon launch the installation phase of the project using two of the industry’s most technologically-advanced cable laying vessels,” said Debra Brask , vice president, project and program management, TE SubCom. “ Hawaiki is certainly a large and multi-faceted system, but we are confident in our transpacific expertise and look forward to an efficient deployment.”
The manufacturing of the cable was conducted at SubCom’s Newington, U.S. facility, including more than 14,000 km of cable for Hawaiki and more than 170 completed repeaters.
In addition, horizontal directional drilling (HDD) for the cable landing in Pacific City, Oregon and Sydney, Australia has been completed.
“The coming months will see the realization of our vision for Hawaiki, a system that will impact the capabilities and economies of hundreds of Pacific communities,” said Remi Galasso , CEO of Hawaiki. “Considering the scope of the project, the progress to date has been staggering. It is a thrill to reach the installation phase and know that we will soon be ready to light the system and deliver much needed capacity to the region.”
Hawaiki will link Australia and New Zealand to the mainland United States, as well as Hawaii and American Samoa, with options to expand to additional South Pacific islands.
The system is on schedule for completion by mid-2018.